Teana's Travels Book 13 - Fallen Messengers
by D.K.N
Summary: The crew of the Starshot travel to an Earth that has been ravaged by a cataclysm called Second Impact, and is under attack by monstrous entities dubbed "Angels". Can they make a difference against these beasts, the mysterious organization SEELE, and the three pilots' psychoses? Rated M for violence and language
1. Tokyo-3

And here we come to Book 13 – _Fallen Messengers_. Let's see how the coalition handles the Angels and SEELE…

**I MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THE FOLLOWING THINGS, WHICH ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE MENTIONED OWNER-PEOPLE:**

_Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha _(Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni _(Shion, the "Keiichi Crew") – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

_Shuffle! _(Kaede Fuyō, Rin, Asa & Ama, Sia & Nerine, Primula) – Navel and Asread

_Erika's New Perfume _(Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

_Mai-chan's Daily Life _(Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

_Star Wars _(Ahsoka, Cody, Rex) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

_Halo _(Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries

_StarCraft _(multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

_Naruto _(jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

_Mahō Sensei Negima _(spells, abilities, characters) – Ken Akamatsu

_Kingdom Hearts _(Keyblades, the concept of Nobodies (Laicixa), Aqua) – Square-Enix

_Neon Genesis Evangelion_ (Mana Kirishima, damn-near everything else in this Book) – Studio Gainax

_Elfen Lied _(Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

_Red vs. Blue _(The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers)– Rooster Teeth

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-****_BOOK 13 START_****-**

**Tokyo-3**

**September 19, 2015**

Shinji Ikari sat on a park bench, lost in thought. Flashes of cold memories from the battle against the 12th Angel two days ago still forced themselves to his awareness every now & then. He remembered it vividly: the terror as the 'shadow' – actually the most bizarre Angel yet – absorbed Eva-01 and him with it; the coldness as the hours passed in silent darkness, with naught but his own dark thoughts to keep him company; the sudden warm, comforting presence just before everything went red. And what's more, he'd later been informed that, had he not broken out when he did, the Angel – and he – would've been destroyed by a combined multi-megaton explosion.

He was still rattled by all of it. And, apparently, he wasn't the only one. Asuka was a bit more irritable than usual, but Shinji – having learned how to read the redhead somewhat – could tell she wasn't _actually _as angry as she pretended to be. Rei appeared to be her usual self, but Shinji could faintly detect a difference in her behavior: she seemed to be… checking on him, for lack of a better term, with a little more frequency than before, and her eyes showed the barest hint of… something – concern, maybe?

Shinji sighed as his thoughts turned to the two most interesting girls in his life. The fiery, expressive Asuka and the cool, stoic Rei… He also found his thoughts drawn to the third girl who had, for a while at least, made her presence in his life known: Mana Kirishima, the masculine, tough-as-nails girl who piloted the Jet-2, and who'd vanished through some sort of dimensional dislocation shortly after the 9th Angel.

She'd taken quite a shine to him, her boisterous, in-your-face personality reminding him of a younger Misato (in a good way), though she lacked any of the feminine traits that his guardian had… partly because, she'd confessed to him shortly before her departure, she considered any femininity to be weakness on her part. Partly due to her childhood as a soldier and partly due to a mild existential crisis caused by her 'rebuilding' as a cyborg, Mana had vehemently rejected all femininity, refusing to allow herself to even _think _'girlishly'. She claimed it was because she was disgusted by the weakness she erroneously associated with such traits, but Shinji could see something deeper: she was afraid. Mana had repressed that part of her for so long that she was, deep down, completely terrified of what would happen if she ever let it out.

And now she was gone, fleeing her employers who supposedly sought to "shut her down". It made his fist clench; they dared to view her as a machine, as their _property_! Remembering his missing friend, the pain he'd seen hidden deep away in her eyes (much like that he'd seen in Asuka's, oddly enough), and thinking about what those people reduced her to in their own eyes, made him genuinely angry. Despite how comparatively-little time he'd known her for, he had come to care for her as much as he did for Asuka and Rei and Misato, and if there was one thing capable of making Shinji mad, it was messing with his friends.

His phone beeped suddenly. He pulled it out and read the automated message: "PILOT IKARI, YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED AT NERV HEADQUARTERS". He pulled himself up out of his seat, and started walking.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**NERV HQ**

**26 Minutes Later**

The three pilots found themselves in a briefing room near the Evangelions' 'cages'. Misato, Dr. Akagi, and (to the former's poorly-concealed annoyance) Kaji were present. Ritsuko stepped forward.

"Right" she said. "Now that you're all here… There have been recent unexplainable readings on the outside of the city; they keep cycling between Patterns Blue, Orange, and Yellow. We have no idea what's causing it, but in case it's some new Angel or something related, we need to keep you three on standby here for a little while."

"How long is this gonna take?" Asuka griped.

"If nothing happens within four hours, you're free to-"

"_Ma'am!_" Makoto Hyūga's voice cut in over the room's speakers. "_We have a situation!_"

"What is it, Hyūga?" Misato asked in her 'all-business Major' mode.

"_Remember how we got readings from when that… spatial dislocation accompanied Kirishima Mana's disappearance? We're getting similar readings, except it's coming from orbit, and it's bigger – much, __**much**__ bigger._"

"Switch to one of our sat-cams in the area" Ritsuko ordered.

The viewscreen in the room changed to a view from a satellite-mounted camera in high orbit over Japan.

"_Cherenkov radiation detected_" Maya reported. "_It's coming from the spot where the spatial distortion is building._"

"Cherenkov radiation?" Shinji asked.

"It's what happens when a charged particle moves through a medium faster than light moves through said medium" Asuka explained, her attention focused on the screen. "It's why water-submerged nuclear reactors glow blue."

Everyone watched as a massive, roiling, bluish-white rift appeared, and from it emerged a massive construct, grey and silver with electric-blue lines running along it, very angular but with a few smooth curves to it as well. There was something 'written' on the side. Suddenly, the camera's feed became distorted and then went dead.

"_It's hacking every single satellite that detected its arrival!_" Maya said. "_It's deleting every bit of data regarding it! I managed to save a picture, though._"

"Everyone, to the bridge, _now_" Ritsuko said.

Five minutes later, the group was at the main command center of NERV, as were the Commander and Sub-Commander. Maya keyed in a few commands, and the image was projected on the center's main 70-foot screen.

"What's that writing on its side?" Misato said. "Kinda looks like English."

"It says '_Starshot_'" Kaji replied. "…Perhaps wherever Kirishima-san went, humans have FTL travel there."

"We've got two objects heading for Tokyo-3" Shigeru Aoba interrupted. "30,000 feet and descending."

"Angels?" the Sub-Commander asked.

"Negative, sir; no Blue Pattern, and they're way too small. Hang on, trying to get an image…"

An automated camera mounted atop one of the mountains bordering Tokyo-3 followed the remote commands sent its way, locating and tracking the objects. An image, magnified and cleared, was soon displayed on the command center's screen: a pair of identical gunmetal-gray aircraft, blocky with four wings – the forward two larger – and eight engine thrusters. The design looked distinctly human.

"Sirs, incoming transmission" Hyūga reported. "It's coming from… from those two aircraft."

"Patch it through" the Commander ordered.

"_I repeat: this is UNSC dropship Kilo-23, calling NERV base_" a woman's voice said with a moderate Southern accent. "_Can anyone hear me?_"

"Who are you and why are you here?" Commander Ikari was his usual blunt self.

"_We represent the United Nations Space Command, one of several space-faring civilizations from various dimensional realms who have banded together in a coalition to deal with mutual threats. One of your former colleagues, one Mana Kirishima, ended up on the homeworld of another of our coalition's member states, and has since willingly and formally joined our merry band. From what she's told us, you folks have a bit of a giant monster problem on your hands. In addition, we have reason to believe that a powerful enemy of ours may be planning to meddle with affairs on this Earth. For those reasons, we've come to help._"

"That is all quite a difficult claim to believe" Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki said.

"With all due respect, sir," Misato replied, "we saw them come out of a glowing, swirling hole in reality in orbit. I'm inclined to believe them."

Before a response could be made, NERV's scanners detected a "fluctuation" just outside of the city's west borders, rapidly alternating between Patterns Orange and Yellow. The bridge techs immediately tapped into cameras nearest that location, and nobody could believe what they were seeing.

"What is this…?" Kaji murmured. "Demons?"

"_We call them 'malevolent extra-planar entities'_" Hocus replied. "_We don't quite fully know what they are, really, or what their origins are; most people just go ahead and call them 'demons', though. We've been fighting them for a little while now._"

"_Away teams, this is Colonel Holland_" a man's voice cut into the comm. channel. "_Change of plans: divert course from NERV and get over to the site of the incursion. Keep those things out of the city!_"

"_Roger that, sir_" the other dropship's pilot replied. "_Echo-419 diverting course, Gamma Team onboard._"

"_Kilo-23 diverting course, Sigma Team onboard._"

"_I'll have Theta Team and Lancer Team on standby in case things get hairy_" Col. Holland said.

"_Target hostiles in sight,_" Foehammer said, "_preparing to deploy. All right, girls; get set to come out swingin'._"

"_Thinning the herd_" Hocus said, and the NERV viewers watched the viewscreen as the two dropships came into view, large guns unfurling from their 'chins' and firing a torrent of heavy fire that cut into the enemy, killing around half of them. The two dropships then swiveled around, setting down to hover a few feet above the ground as their rear hatches opened.

"_Touchdown! Hit it, teams!_"

13 people emerged from the ships, all of them in full-body armor and wielding various weapons; one of them had a vaguely non-human profile, and was wielding honest-to-goodness lightsabers. The NERV crew watched as this baker's-dozen of people proceeded to effortlessly carve through the monsters. It took less than two minutes to wipe them out.

"_Area clear, sir_" a girl's voice said.

"_Excellent work, Gamma-1_" Col. Holland replied. "_NERV Command, I assume you've been observing?_"

"Affirmative" Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki replied.

"_We request permission to meet with your people, at a location of your choosing. I'll be on my way down myself once you give us a location. Gamma and Sigma Teams will be there as well. …Sigma-4 dearly wishes to see the Evangelion pilots again._"

"Again?" Misato asked. "Wait… Kirishima?"

"_That's right; she's part of Sigma Team. We'll explain later._"

"Direct your dropships to the field near Geofront Access Point 7-B" Commander Ikari said. "Aoba, send them the coordinates."

"Y-Yes, sir"

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Outskirts of Tokyo-3**

**Near Geofront Access Point 7-B**

**20 Minutes Later**

Nine people – Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato, Kaji, Ritsuko, Maya, and (slightly surprisingly) the Commander and Sub-Commander – stood in the grassy field, awaiting the coalition's "delegation". It wasn't long before Kilo-23 and Echo-419 flew into the clearing, setting down nearby. Their rear hatches opened, and seven people emerged from Echo-419 while six came out of Kilo-23. Each and every one of them was still clad in identity-concealing full-body armor, but one of the six from Kilo-23 immediately headed toward the three pilots.

"Ikari! Ayanami! Sōryū!" Mana shouted as she removed her helmet. "Damn glad to see you three are still alive an' kicking!"

"Mana-san!" Shinji said with mild surprise. "What in the world… or should I say 'worlds'… have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know…" the girl replied. "Fighting demons, pirates, and rogue Intelligence operatives; becoming part of a multi-dimensional space-faring alliance; having my internal cybernetics overhauled and replaced by vastly technologically superior components by the UNSC; those sorts of things."

"I'm glad to see you're okay" the boy said with a warm smile. Mana didn't fully understand why she felt her face heat up a bit in response.

The rest of the teams walked up. "Which of you are the highest-ranking?" Misato asked them.

"We are" Aqua said as she and Teana stepped forward. "I'm TSAB Second Lieutenant Aqua Acionna, leader of Sigma Team."

"And I'm UNSC Second Lieutenant Teana Uchiha-Lanstar, leader of Gamma Team."

The woman nodded. "Major Misato Katsuragi, operations director for NERV" she said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Our commanding officers, Army Colonel Urban Holland and Navy Captain Zhal Arum, should be arriving in a few minutes" Teana said.

"So what's with the armor?" Asuka asked.

"Powered armor" Mana replied. "Provides energy shields, strength enhancement – the degree of which varies by model and type –, vacuum sealing for hazardous environments, and the helmet's HUD is equipped with shield indicator, ammo counter, motion tracker, and a special system called 'VISR' that I'll tell you more about later."

"So what do you girls look like under there?" Misato asked.

"It varies" Mana replied. "A bit interesting, though: Teana-san looks a little like Asuka."

The group, especially Asuka, looked to the red-armored figure. Teana responded by removing her helmet, allowing her long red-orange hair to spill free, her blue eyes looking out at them.

"I'd say more than a little" Ritsuko said.

"…This is a little weird" Asuka said as she and Teana stared at each other. The older girl gave a small smirk in response.

"Though our blue-haired girl's hair is a darker blue than your blue-haired girl's" Teana said. "And yours doesn't look like she's nearly as… enthusiastic."

Rei's eyebrow quirked up just a tiny bit. Subaru proceeded to walk over, pulling her own helmet off, her blue-green eyes sparkling with life as she shot a big, friendly grin at the pilots.

"Those are interesting armor suits" Fuyutsuki said, thinking aloud. "They look more advanced than that which your other squadmates are wearing."

"Subaru and I are wearing MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, Mark-7" Teana said. "We're the only ones between either of the squads capable of wearing it, due to our cybernetic enhancements – I have carbide ceramics grafted to my bones, while her internal augmentations are different yet come out to the same durability. If anyone _without _such abnormally strengthened bones were to try to use Mjolnir Armor, the reactive liquid crystal layer and force multiplication functions would… Well, there's an old video of the Mark-4's testing; it shows a man trying out a Mjolnir Suit. He moved his arm, and the bones snapped. That caused him to spasm in pain, which made more bones break, which made him jerk in pain again, which broke _more _bones, which… It ended in a long, drawn-out, and very painful death."

A few of the NERV people shuddered at the mental images.

"What's interesting about MJOLNIR" Mana said "is that the wearer synchronizes with it pretty much the same way the Eva pilots synch with their Evangelions."

"What?" Ritsuko's attention was thoroughly drawn to the two newcomers; although he was silent, Gendō was listening intently as well.

"There's a neural interface implant in the back of my skull" Teana said. "It links with my armor when I'm wearing it. Basically, I just think about moving my arm," she lifted her hand, "and the armor & my arm move together, as one, rather than my arm just moving and bringing the armor with it like 'normal' armor. It makes for vastly increased reaction times. You'd… have to ask the armor's designer, Dr. Catherine Halsey, if you want the detailed specifics."

It was at this point that another Pelican dropship, reading Beta-511, flew into the clearing, setting down. From the back hatch emerged an armed guard force of six ODSTs, followed by two figures. The first was wearing a light-grey military uniform with the insignia of a Colonel. He had crew-cut black hair (with a few hints of grey) and dark-brown eyes. The second figure caused the NERV group's jaws to drop (except Gendō and Rei, and even then their eyebrows rose). It was a saurian-looking biped, standing at least 2.6 meters tall, his lower jaw in the form of four toothy mandibles, hands with two standard digits and two opposable thumbs each, and digitigrade legs ending in hoofed feet. He was clad in a dark-grey bodysuit over which was worn pristine white armor, with a fairly impressive headpiece/helmet. Stuck onto his chestpiece was the insignia of a Naval Captain.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Aqua said, "I present to you UNSC Colonel Urban Holland and Sangheili Alliance Shipmaster Zhal Arum, the two commanding officers of the coalition vessel, the Forerunner-built _M_-class destroyer _Starshot_."

The head of NERV stepped forward. "Gendō Ikari, Commander of NERV" he introduced himself with a calm, even tone with the barest hint of passive hostility hidden within.

"Kōzō Fuyutsuki, Sub-Commander" the older man introduced himself, noticeably more cordial and friendly than his superior.

"Right, then" Holland said. "Who should go over the details first?"

"I would assume you lot have a more interesting story to tell" Fuyutsuki said.

"Indeed" Zhal replied, his calm, smooth baritone catching by surprise those of NERV expecting some guttural growl or something. "There is much to discuss."

"Mana, if you want to hang out with the pilots during all this…" Aqua said.

"Sure!" Mana replied, heading over to Shinji, Asuka, and Rei.

"Long story short," Holland said, "we are, as Kilo-23 explained, a coalition of several spacefaring civilizations from across various dimensional realms – some are human, others are not. All told, we include 12 sapient species, including three different subspecies of human."

"Subspecies?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes: _Homo sapiens sapiens_, or baseline humans; _Homo sapiens sanguinus_, or the Lucavi, none of whom are present at the moment; and…" he looked to Kaede Kanade, Sigma-5, who removed her helmet to reveal her hot-pink hair and cat-ear-shaped horns "_Homo sapiens diclonius_, the Diclonii."

"What are the other species?" Maya asked.

"The Sangheili, the Unggoy, the Lekgolo, the Kig-Yar – well, some of them –, the Protoss, the Drakonians, the Jalaxians, the Rigellians, the Kyyreni, the Elvaan, and the Aspatrians. Gamma-6, Ahsoka Tano, is also the sole coalition member of the Togrutans, another species. …I should also note that the Elvaan, though not humans, are physiologically nearly identical, and in fact are genetically identified as members of the _Homo _genus – _Homo longevinus_."

"But they can't produce fertile offspring with _Homo sapiens_?" Ritsuko asked.

"Correct, which marks them as a separate species."

"Humans are dominant amongst the coalition in terms of population percentage" Zhal Arum said, "though my people carry a… somewhat disproportionate amount of power and leverage."

"That's because the Sangheili Alliance has the largest and most technologically advanced navy out of any of the coalition's member factions," Teana cut in, "in addition to the largest percentage of their overall species population to serve in the armed forces."

"Indeed" the Shipmaster said. "We are a very martial people; every Sangheili citizen has some degree of combat training, for males a term of military service is encouraged to varying degrees in some Keeps and compulsory in others, and those who do not fight often fulfill noncombat roles that, in one way or another, help those that do."

"Hey, that reminds me" Teana said. "Shipmaster, why have I only ever seen a handful of Sangheili females?"

"Fertile females who have yet to mother a child are forbidden from military service" Arum replied. "Those who have mothered at least one are permitted noncombat roles. Those who have mothered multiple children, and those who are infertile, are given the option to serve on the front lines. …Attempting to pressure them to make one choice or the other is heavily stigmatized against; it must be of their own will."

"What about those who give birth to twins? I mean, considering how your people hold twins in reverence…"

"Your people… revere twins?" Kaji asked Zhal, slightly confused.

"Not… quite" Zhal replied. "Compared to you humans, multiple births are _extremely _rare amongst Sangheili – less than 10% percent the natural rate of human twin births. And of those few, less than half are identical twins. Due to their rarity and other factors, amongst my people twins are seen as sacred, blessed, gifts from the gods. This view extends to non-Sangheili twins, including humans; Gamma-2, the girl Shion, is one of a set of identical twin sisters, and thus she is seen as rather… special by us." He turned to Teana. "And as for your question, we know how extremely rare twin births are, and thus that the chances of a female who has mothered one set will give birth to another are _astronomically _small. The same customs apply to them as do to other females."

"Moving on," Col. Holland said, "Kirishima mentions you folks have a bit of a giant monster problem on your hands."

"You could say that, yes" Kaji replied. "Ever since our Second Impact…"

"Uh, yeah," Mana cut in, "I should mention something, you guys: our Earth is apparently the only one where something like Second Impact happened."

This caught the NERV-goers by mild surprise.

"Yeah, most of these girls come from Earths where something like that never happened. On Marie, Sarah, & Mai's Earth, Shion's Earth, Fuyō's Earth, and Kanade's Earth, it's apparently on all four around late 2011 or early 2012, and their human populations each recently hit the 7-billion mark."

Misato's eyes went wide.

"How many humans are on _this _Earth?" Holland asked.

"About two-and-a-quarter billion" Kaji replied. "We _were _at six billion just before Second Impact happened 15 years ago."

"You lost 3.75 billion people in just 15 years?" Aqua asked, incredulous.

"No" Commander Ikari replied. "We lost more than even that in only _four _years, as a result of the Second Impact's effects, the climatic shifts that followed, and the several massive wars that those in turn triggered. We were brought down to 1.95 billion, and slowly built our population back up to where we are now in the aftermath."

"Yeah, none of the other Earths we know of have suffered like that" Teana said. "Though… recently the UNSC's Earth got some bruises – a lot of wrecked cities, a 970-kiloton fusion warhead detonated in central Antarctica that didn't really do as much damage as you'd expect, and the African nation of Kenya got burned to ash & glass by low-orbit ship-grade plasma weapon bombardment, as did portions of its neighbors. They're presently at around five billion people, because the UNSC have had interstellar colonies for centuries, and thus plenty of time and space to spread humanity out amongst. My & Subaru's homeworld, Midchilda, has around four billion people for the same reason – lots of worlds to fit our 11.5 billion people without cramming everyone on a single planet."

By this point, the ODST squad, with support from parts of Gamma and Sigma, had managed to set up a good-sized wall-less tent and a handful of decently-comfortable-looking chairs.

"Perhaps we should all have a seat while we finish explanations" Holland said. "It can't be comfortable standing in this Sun the whole time."

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Aboard the ****_Starshot_**

**That Evening (1940 Hours)**

Col. Holland sighed as he leaned against a wall in the bridge. The two sides' explanations had taken up most of the day. Now, everyone was off doing their own thing. He and Arum were in the bridge, going over in their heads what they'd been told; Teana and Aqua, the two team leaders, were there was well, quietly conversing.

Suddenly, the bridge door opened, and a man strode through, blue armor with yellow panels.

"Agent Washington?" Holland asked. "What is it, son?"

"They didn't tell you everything" Wash replied. "Not by a long shot."

The leaders of Gamma and Sigma Teams came forward. "What do you mean?" Aqua asked.

"You know how in Marie's world, the adventures of the Blood-Gulch Crew, and of the Master Chief, are fictional? Turns out it can work both ways. …There was an old show – like, _really _old – that I've watched through a few times. I think you guys need to know some details about it."

Zhal Arum stepped forward. "Very well, Agent. Regale us."

Washington took a deep breath. "I'll tell you four about an old, end-of-the-20th-century show I used to watch, called _Neon Genesis Evangelion_…"

**-****_CHAPTER END_****-**

Next time: a new pilot and a revelation regarding bloodlines.


	2. Pilots

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**WHOOPS-A! **Forgot this in the first chapter:

**EVA-VERSE CHARACTER HEIGHTS**

**Shinji Ikari: **5' (1.525m)

**Rei Ayanami: **4'9" (1.45m)

**Asuka Sōryū: **4'10.5" (1.486m)

**Kaworu Nagisa: **5'3.5" (1.61m)

**Tōji Suzuhara: **5'6" (1.676m)

**Kensuke Aida: **5'2" (1.575m)

**Hikari Horaki: **4'11" (1.5m)

**Mari Makinami: **5'4" (1.625m)

**Mana Kirishima: **ALREADY COVERED (SEE BOOK 11)

**Maya Ibuki: **5'2.5" (1.59m)

**Ritsuko Akagi: **5'6.5" (1.69m)

**Misato Katsuragi: **5'4" (1.63m)

**Ryōji Kaji: **6' (1.83m)

**Gendō Ikari: **6'0.5" (1.84m)

**Kōzō Fuyutsuki: **6'2" (1.88m)

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Tokyo-3**

**September 20, 2015 – 0950 Hours**

Teana was silent as she stood on a rooftop overlooking the city. The things that Agent Washington had told her, Aqua, Col. Holland, and Shipmaster Arum last night still occupied her thoughts. A few things had been decided, though: they had to make sure Commander Ikari didn't know what they knew; they had to make sure SEELE didn't even know they were here (thankfully, the Commander seemed intent on doing this as well, as aware as the coalition was that the travelers' presence would force the old men's hands in an unwelcome way); and they had to work on fixing the pilots' psyches so their psychoses couldn't be used to help end the world. Also, other than the ship's five Teams (Gamma, Sigma, Theta, Lancer, Blood-Gulch), its ONI personnel, and a handful of trusted others (Erohn Kilkar, Rex & Cody, Chen S'Yar, etc.), this info could not be given to the _Starshot_'s other occupants just yet; the risk of a leak was too great.

Teana let out a sigh. The pilots were a mess, and (though according to Wash she wasn't in the "original canon") Mana wasn't much better. It was gonna take a _loooot _of work to deal with their issues without coming on too strong and pushing them away… and without Commander Ikari, who _wanted _them messed up, noticing and stepping in to stop it. That the man would use and discard his own innocent son as a pawn to accomplish his own twisted, literally-apocalyptic goals…

She shook her head. If they were gonna pull this off, they'd need everyone to bring their A-game. It was time to make some calls…

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition "Base" Near Geofront Access Point 7-B**

**9/20/2015 – 1210 Hours**

Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Misato headed for the prefab structure that had been set up at yesterday's landing point, the few guards allowing them passage unmolested. Inside, they found the entirety of Gamma and Sigma Teams, unbeknownst to them having recently finished discussing what Teana & Aqua had been told last night. They were all out of their armor, allowing the NERV quartet to see the faces of those besides Subaru, Teana, and Mana for the first time.

"Wow, Lanstar really _does _look a lot like an older Asuka" Misato muttered.

Asuka looked at her 'counterpart'. '_Will __my__ boobs ever get that big?_' she wondered.

'_I wonder if Asuka's breasts will ever get that big…_' Shinji thought, and then mentally slapped himself before Asuka could notice his gaze shifting back & forth between Teana's and Asuka's chests. Thankfully for him, the young redhead failed to notice… but the older redhead _did _notice and had to fight back a chuckle, though she had the faintest hint of a blush as well. Rei discretely looked down at her own breasts, comparing them to Asuka's and Teana's, and then looking at Shinji. Afterward, she turned her head to find Misato smirking at her, and the pale girl couldn't stop a faint blush from appearing on her cheeks at being caught doing something so 'frivolous' and out-of-character.

"So what brings you guys here?" Teana asked, crossing one leg over the other as she reclined in a fairly comfy chair.

"I thought we should get to know you girls" Misato replied. "It seemed like a good idea, so…"

The girl smiled. "Okay. Chill with us for a while."

They spent the next hour or so getting to know the girls of Gamma and Sigma Teams. Asuka got along quite well with Subaru and Marie; Misato and Mana, finally getting the chance to properly interact, became best buds in no time; Rei mostly kept to herself, but did allow Kaede K. to reach out to her; Shinji got along fairly well with Aqua, and also found himself quickly becoming attached to Sarah, who – in his opinion – was like a younger Misato, minus the beer and irresponsibleness and with maternal qualities/behavior turned up to 10, the blonde girl quite happily treating the shy boy like a younger brother.

"Why _are _you clinging to and kinda fussing over Shin-chan?" Misato asked the blonde at one point.

"I love my little sisters more than anything," Sarah replied, "but I've always wondered what it would like to have a cute, shy little brother to fawn over. Thanks to my little sister Erika's little boyfriend Timmy I've gotten a 'taste' of that. Shinji-kun's setting off the same vibe. Plus he's a lot like Erika in personality, so that's another reason I feel compelled to be 'cool-and-loving-big-sister-y' towards him. …That, and I read some of his background, and this kid _really _needs lots of hugs after all the crap he's been through. …And he's just so snuggably cute~!"

The young Ikari's face flushed at that last bit, and at Misato's ensuing giggle.

The NERV group quickly found themselves relaxing among these friendly new faces. Unfortunately, the fact that they became comfortable meant that Asuka's habit of going off on Shinji for perceived sleights, which she normally repressed around strangers so as not to look bad, came back (little did she know that Gamma & Sigma Teams already sorta-knew about it thanks to Mana). As Asuka started bitching at Shinji over who-cares-what, Teana sighed loudly.

"Y'know," she said, "it's both sad and ironic that you two get along so poorly."

"Why is that?" Asuka asked, her tone slightly abrasive but also curious.

"When we came here, we… did some digging. And we found out that, besides both being members of the Evangelion Project's early days…" she pulled up a holo-image of two young women in their early 20s, one with short brown hair and green eyes, the other with bright red hair and blue eyes, arms around each other's shoulders, and big smiles on their faces. "Yui Ikari and Kyōko Sōryū were the best of friends."

You could've heard a pin drop. Asuka briefly forgot how to breathe; her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. Finally, a just-barely-audible "What?" squeaked out.

"You two are at each other's throats," Aqua said, "whereas your mothers were closer than sisters and each would've gladly died for the other's sake. In fact… we found copies of their written wills, and there were clauses in both stating that, if anything were to happen to one of them, and no other blood relatives were available, the other would gain custody of the deceased's child. They cared for and trusted each other so much that they trusted their beloved children with each other."

"So yeah," Teana said, "it's kinda sad seeing how much vitriol you treat Shinji-kun with, Asuka, knowing that your mother and his mother loved each other like sisters and trusted each other more than anyone else in the entire world."

Asuka and Shinji were silent and still, trying to wrap their heads around this, especially Asuka; the idea that her mom and Baka-Shinji's mom were best buds was quite a lot to swallow.

Suddenly, something made itself known by accidentally knocking over a light plastic container. Everyone turned to look, and saw a dull-brown snake around 18 inches long, looking at them. Mana, Subaru, and Misato cried out and got away from it, while Asuka actually moved closer.

"Chill, guys, this species isn't poisonous or aggressive" she said as she carefully picked the snake up and put it outside. "There ya go, little fella." She turned to see several of the group staring. "What? Snakes are cool."

"Huh" Marie said. "Well, that's one thing that _isn't _heritable."

"Huh?" Asuka asked.

"According to a random tidbit we came across in our research, Kyōko Sōryū was absolutely _terrified _of snakes – big snakes, little snakes, contained snakes, dead snakes, _any _snakes, things that out of the corner of one's eye _looked _vaguely snake-like – hardcore ophidiophobia. Yui Ikari was the same with spiders, supposedly." She grinned. "One written anecdote by then-Professor Fuyutsuki mentions an incident where the two encountered a big centipede, which is like the unholy fusion of a snake and a spider, and they damn near tore a hole in a wall trying to get away from it."

A *snerk* was heard from Misato as she stifled a laugh at the mental image. Asuka glared at the perceived sleight to her mother.

"Um…" Shinji spoke up. "When you were going through those records, did… did you find out how my mother died? I was told it was some accident…"

Teana's expression hardened. "As a result of an experiment gone horribly awry, Yui Ikari was, over the course of about 25 seconds, ripped apart into her constituent atoms while alive and conscious. It was a horrible way to die."

Shinji and Asuka both went pale at this. Shinji was desperately trying _not _to imagine the scene in his head. Misato came over and placed her hands on his shoulders from behind.

'_Mein Gott_' Asuka thought. 'Mama's death was quick. It may have been traumatizing for _me_, but… Shinji's mother's death would've been just as horrifying for her as it was for any witnesses. …In her own twisted way, mama died happy. Shinji's mama… probably died screaming…'

"After that," Aqua said, "they tried their hardest to figure out what went wrong and fix it. They did; six months later, the second attempt at the experiment had none of the old problems. …It had brand-new ones." She sighed. "I don't know how else to put this, and you may or may not believe me, but… Kyōko Sōryū's soul was literally ripped out of her body."

Asuka could swear her heart stopped for a second.

"Her body was left behind with a faint, flawed imprint of her soul running it" Teana said. "The best analogy… would be that the headlights were on, but the driver had long since been yanked out of the moving vehicle, leaving the seat warm from their body heat. …Unfortunately for those involved, it took five months for the inevitable 'crash' to happen."

"S-So…" Asuka whispered. "Mama _didn't _actually go insane?"

"To go insane implies damage to the mind" Teana said. "Kyōko-san's mind wasn't damaged; it was _gone_ – literally no longer inhabiting her body. If we're going by the definition of death as being when the soul leaves the body, then by the time you found her hanging from a ceiling she'd already been 'dead' for almost half a year."

The beginnings of hyperventilation were stopped when Shinji and Misato each laid a hand on Asuka, and slowly her breathing re-stabilized. The redhead couldn't speak, eyes wide but not seeing.

"…What about Misato-san's mother?" Shinji asked. "I've heard a mention of her father, but…"

"Her death was caused by the same thing that killed billions of others in September 2000" Marie replied. "Namely, a 100-foot wall of water smacking her in the face."

"Yeah" Misato replied. "My mom died as a result of the megatsunamis set off by Second Impact. Dad was part of the research team at Antarctica, so he was at Ground Zero when the First Angel attacked."

"W-What about yours?" Asuka asked shakily to Teana. "I mean, since we're sharing horror stories and all…"

Teana sighed as she closed her eyes. "My mother was murdered when I was four, as was my father. A powerful enemy attacked the both of them when they were out on a mission. They were outmaneuvered and overpowered. Dad was killed first. Mom died with her killer's blade through her chest, having seen her beloved husband struck down minutes before, her killer staring her in the face as the light left her eyes, with her last thoughts being the knowledge that the man who'd killed her & her husband would be going after her children next." She took a deep breath. "Six years later, that killer's second-in-command killed my brother. Tiida-_niisan_'s machinations were the only reason I'm still alive; he made it so the enemy didn't even know I existed."

When she looked up at them, her eyes bore a calm sadness and the type of wisdom that comes from pain. None of the NERV group really knew what to say. After several seconds, Misato's gaze drifted to Rei, who was quietly watching the whole affair, the expression on her face unreadable but subtly different from her normal impassive look.

"There is no data regarding Rei's mother" Shion said in response to Misato's unspoken query. Shion fought back the urge to say anything more. Technically, she was telling the truth – there was no information on Rei's mother… because the girl _had _no mother, what with being a half-Angel hybrid made from a mish-mash of the genetic data of Yui Ikari and the Second Angel, Lilith. That had been one of the bigger bombshells from Wash's explanations.

"We're gonna be showing you guys some vid-data of our previous adventures, as well as 'backstory' for the worlds we've been to" Aqua said. "Let the others know to be here at 6 pm tonight."

"_Gamma and Sigma Teams, this is Shipmaster Arum_" the Sangheili leader's voice came over the comm. terminal.

"Yes, Captain?" Teana replied.

"_We have intercepted transmissions between NERV bases Japan and America. They are sending another pilot over._"

"_Another _pilot?" Shinji asked. "An American?"

"_Actually, she is supposedly of Japanese origins; she was merely across the ocean for training and to oversee her Evangelion's construction. She and it will arrive in Tokyo-3 today around 1400 hours._"

"…So how'd _her _mother die?" Asuka found herself saying.

"_She didn't. The pilot's father has been dead for nine years, but her mother is alive & well and has a healthy relationship with her daughter. The pilot's psychological profile looks rather sound, as well… though with a deep-seated enjoyment of battle that more fits a Sangheili warrior than a human teenager._" He said the last bit with a hint of mirth.

"So we have a 'blood knight' type, eh?" Marie said. "Cool. Sounds like she'll be fun."

"We'll be there to meet her" Aqua said.

"What's her Eva's number?" Misato asked.

"_Zero-Five_"

"Huh… So we have Oh-Zero, Oh-One, Oh-Two, and Oh-Five…"

"_Zero-Three and Zero-Four are still under construction. Units Three through Five all bear different experimental technologies. Zero-Three's and Zero-Four's experimental components are proving more… troublesome than Zero-Five's_."

Mana had to suppress a wince as she remembered being told the near-future fates of those two Units.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Tokyo-3 Seaport**

**Same Day - 1405 Hours**

The group watched as the large cargo ship came into dock, along with its escort of four _Arleigh-Burke_-class destroyers. There was no question as to what was under the gigantic protective tarp taking up much of the cargo vessel's rear section. The pilots stood with Misato and the girls of Gamma & Sigma, waiting by where the Eva's pilot would emerge from the ramp that was now being lowered from the docked cargo ship.

The girl who strode down the ramp, heading toward the group, looked rather physically mature for her age. With long brown hair held in a low ponytail, red-framed glasses over bright blue eyes, and a big smile on her face, she walked with confidence, a light spring in her step. As Asuka looked at the newcomer's considerably-large assets bouncing lightly as she walked, she found herself thinking 'Is this girl _really _14?'

"Hi there!" the girl said as she neared the group. "I'm the pilot of Evangelion-05, Mari Makinami. Pleased to meetcha!"

"Hello there, Mari-chan!" Misato said with equal cheer. "I'm Misato, NERV's Ops Director. This here is Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, the pilots of Units 01, 02, and 00, respectively."

"Ah yes, I read about you three! Especially you two, Ikari, Sōryū – my mom's friends' kids."

"Wait, what?-!" Asuka shouted. "…Jeez, did everybody's mom know everybody else's mom?-!"

"My mom, your mom, and Shin-kun's mom were pretty close, from what mom's told me. 'Course, mom didn't get to spend much time with them as she'd wanted to – they were scientists with GEHIRN, while mom was in the JSDF back then."

"So… Where exactly is she?" Shinji asked.

"She retired from active duty to raise me after dad died. Now she runs a 'specialty shop' here in Tokyo-3. It's been two years since I've seen her; once I'm done with whatever big important serious NERV stuff you guys need me for, I'm gonna go visit her. Early this morning, when I called from the ship, she said she'd kept my room the way I left it for me, and she'd make something nice to eat… which is good, because NERV America's food kinda sucks, and the food they had on the ship sucks more."

"MRE – Meals Rejected by the Enemy" Teana snarked.

Mari giggled at the apt turn of phrase, and then actually finally noticed the 13 not-pilots girls.

"Hey, who're these guys?" she asked Misato.

"Long story" the woman replied. "I'll tell you in a bit."

Mari then noticed where Shinji and Asuka had been independently staring at, one out of enchanted enticement and the other out of muted jealousy… and maybe something else. She grinned and crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up while giving the two pilots a half-lidded smile. The two immediately shot backward, faces going red. For once, Asuka didn't give Shinji any grief over staring at a girl's breasts… because doing so would've inevitably led to how _she _had been caught staring, too.

'Oh, I'm gonna like these two…' Mari thought. She then turned her attention to Rei, who blinked inquisitively, a look of obvious curiosity on her usually-unreadable face.

"You are… different" Rei said. "And it is not quite an unpleasant type of 'different'. This emotion I feel is… curiosity…?"

"You don't even know what your emotions mean?" Misato asked Rei.

"…You _have _emotions?-!" Asuka said.

"You didn't know Ayanami had emotions?" Shinji said to Asuka.

"I… have a vague understanding of what an 'emotion' is…" Rei replied. "I feel them, but… I do not know what they mean, what each different feeling is called or represents, or how to… express them. I know thanks to Ikari-kun that smiling is something to be done when one is happy, but I… am usually unable to determine if or when I feel 'happiness'. The only emotion I understand full well is what is called fear."

"Which makes sense," Ahsoka (in her Don't-Notice-My-Oddness magic cloak) said, "considering how fear is one of the most base and fundamental emotions amongst all life."

"You actually _do _express your feelings just a little, Ayanami" Shinji said. "It took me a while, but I've learned to recognize a few subtle cues in your face and body language. So I know, for instance, that you're frequently very, very bored in class…"

"That's completely normal" Asuka grumbled as she remembered the decrepit teacher's agonizing lectures.

"And that you look a little sad whenever Asuka is rude to you…"

Rei looked at Asuka, and upon looking close the redhead could indeed make out the hints of curiosity with a 'why are you mean to me' look. A mixture of surprise, disbelief, and a little bit of guilt flashed across Asuka's face upon being the first person ever subjected to Rei's (unintentional) sad-puppy eyes.

'Crap, crap, crap, I thought she was just the Commander's doll, but she's not emotionless she's just repressed, she's like an innocent little girl, what if I've damaged her, she almost looks like she's gonna cry, why does she have to be so damn cute right now, crap, crap…'

"U-Uh…" Asuka murmured.

Marie brought out her personal data-tablet and casually activated an archived audio clip of the AI Omega: "_I see… …Well, this is certainly awkward…_"

"Why don't we… continue this discussion over lunch?" Subaru suggested. "And we can tell Mari-san about us while we're at it."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Base Near Access Point 7-B**

**1845 Hours**

The NERV Group – the four pilots, Misato, Ritsuko, Kaji, the three bridge techs, and even the Commander and Sub-Commander – sat in a viewing room that seemed bigger than should be possible as seen from outside.

"You're sure this will work?" Ritsuko asked.

"The Forerunners were highly skilled in spatial-temporal manipulation" Teana replied. "They had a micro Dyson Sphere inside an object that was only a handful of meters across on the outside. Making this temporally-displaced 'bigger-on-the-inside' viewing room was easy for the Huragok we have aboard our ship. It'll compress all the stuff we found so that only about four-and-a-quarter hours will pass outside. And while you're in here, you won't need to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom."

"H-How is this all possible…?" Fuyutsuki muttered.

"I thought we showed you guys the in-depth formulae regarding the energy interwoven with all existence which we refer to the manipulation of as 'magic'."

"It's _still _a great deal to wrap one's head around."

"You get used to it in our line of work" Shion said.

"Alright!" Mari said from her seat between Asuka and Shinji, a container of popcorn sitting on her lap, as she casually reached over next to her and put an arm around a surprised Shinji's shoulders and pulling him closer while using her other arm to do the same to Asuka. "Bring it on!"

"I thought Lanstar-san said we wouldn't need to eat during this" Maya said, eyeing Mari's popcorn.

"There's a difference between needing to and wanting to" the glasses-clad girl replied.

'Let us see exactly what these people are capable of…' Gendō thought as he prepared to watch the magically recorded events.

As Gamma Team left, the footage started. They marveled at the power displayed by young Nanoha; Fate's origins and other characteristics made something stir within Rei; and then eventually came the final battle against an abomination that was as big as an Angel, and took a device that weaponized slipspace to kill. Then came the 'backstory' of the Halo-verse – the rise of the UNSC; the Spartan Project; the fall of Harvest and the outbreak of the disastrous Human-Covenant War; Parangosky & Ackerson's Spartan-3 Project, which was implicitly compared by Kaji and Misato to what NERV was doing with the Evangelion pilots; the emotional journey of Dr. Halsey, as she went from a cold, do-what-is-necessary scientist like the late Naoko Akagi to an altruist who loved the Spartans like her own children and was filled with regret over what she'd done to them; the archived footage finishing with the Battle of Sigma Octanis.

**(AN: **If I go over the whole damn thing, it'll make this chapter half again as long, at least… and make it take half again as long to finish. Commencing compression/distillation**)**

The playthrough continued. The 'backstory' of the Koprulu Sector, from the discovery of the Zerg to Kerrigan's trouncing of three armies at once; the rise of the Phoenix League and their two wars against the Sol Confederacy, as well as other happenings in that dimension; the adventures of young Uzumaki Naruto, the existence and manipulation of chakra, the power of a Tailed-Beast Daemon, the fall of Uchiha Sasuke, and Naruto's vow.

It showed the birth of Riot Force Six; everyone was fairly surprised by how much like Asuka Teana used to be, including the near-overpowering need to prove herself. They saw as she found the out-of-the-way cave that led to something not shown onscreen; the Hotel Augusta and White Devil Incidents; the falling-out with Takamachi, the reveal of the _Starshot_, and the departure from Midchilda. Teana's arrival in the 'Halo-verse' and the events that took place there… including the revelation of Teana's Uchiha heritage; the resurrection of Ahsoka, Rex, & Cody; the events in the Koprulu Sector.

The events of the Naruto-verse between Uzumaki's return and his 'rematch' with Sasuke; the _Starshot_'s arrival in the Phoenix League's 'verse, and Teana's awakening of her _Mangekyō_; the battles against the Akatsuki in the next world (Asuma's death became the first thing to full-on bring tears to Rei's eyes, though she did not join Shinji, Asuka, Mari, Misato, and Maya in openly crying), along with the truth about Itachi, the revelation of 'Madara', Sasuke's full fall to darkness, the battles against Pain, and Nagato's redemption; the rise of Negi Springfield (comparisons were made between Rei and Chachamaru, especially when Rei confessed that she, too, found cats cute; comparisons were also made between Asuka and Asuna, with the pilot being rather incensed when Misato stated that Kagurazaka was more mature); Gamma Team's arrival at Mahora Academy and the ensuing revelations; the lead-up to the Mahora Festival, and then the myriad of events that took place during the festival itself; the battles against Chao; the 'summer vacation arc'; the trip to _Mundus Magicus _and the enormous amount of events, battles, revelations, and developments that took place there; the return to that realm's Earth, and the battles against the Lifemaker's underlings and eventually the Last Precursor himself.

The events on Marie & Mai's Earth, Kaede's Earth, and Shion's Earth; the return to Midchilda, with Teana's epic battle against Nanoha, Scaglietti's attack, the cavalry's arrival, the Battle of Belka, and the fight against the mysterious 'demonic' foe; Mana's arrival, with her explanation of her past and reasons shocking those who didn't know; the entire _Kingdom Hearts _saga from _Birth By Sleep _to _KH2_; the journey into the Realm of Darkness, and the three new members gained in doing so; the story of the powerful and broken young mutant 'Lucy'; Gamma's arrival, and the events that transpired around said girl and the others of her kind; the tale of the Reds & Blues, and of Project Freelancer; Gamma & Sigma's interactions with the Blood-Gulchers – bailing Carolina out, finding the Director (who, in flashback portions and in backstory, bore such striking similarities to Commander Ikari that Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko couldn't help but wonder if this Leonard Church Sr. was literally an alternate-dimension Gendō; he even had his own "Rei" in Agent Texas); battling the Black Suns; and finally, departing that realm.

At last, it ended. Shinji and Asuka were still so in awe that they were incessantly being all "Did you see how awesome that bit was?-!" with each other, actually acting their ages for once, personal animosities with each other forgotten as they gushed over everything they'd seen. Ritsuko was going over in her head the myriad of possibilities that the coalition's various technologies could open up. 'If we could fit UNSC-grade fusion reactors into the Evangelions…' she thought.

'These people…' Gendō thought 'are much more dangerous than I'd anticipated. Their capabilities, their resources, their altruism… they could be a very serious threat to The Plan. I will have to be very, very careful. And if the Old Men were to ever find out about all this…'

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Aboard the **_**Starshot**_

**2250 Hours**

Teana relaxed in the afterglow, feeling the warm weight of the now-sleeping Kaede F. atop her. Next to her, Subaru and Marie were using each other as body pillows as they too went off to dreamland. As she drifted off to sleep, she thought of what the analysis of the pilots' genetic signatures via blood sample had turned up, something that, according to Agent Washington, had definitely never been seen or mentioned in the original "canon" timeline…

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next time: a revelation, and another ally.


	3. Blood Ties

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Tokyo-3**

**Coalition Base Outside Geofront Access Point 7-B**

**September 21, 2015 – 0920 Hours**

"You wanted to see me, Teana-san?" Asuka asked as she had a seat.

"Yeah" the slightly-older redhead replied. "Last night our techs went over you pilots' blood samples and gene sequences. When we went over yours, we found something unexpected."

"D-Do I have some kinda genetic defect disease that'll-"

"Calm down, calm down. We didn't find anything like that. But we looked at your genes, especially your mitochondrial DNA, and found… I'm not sure how to say this… Asuka… you and I are related by blood."

Asuka went silent with shock. "What?" she whispered out.

"According to detailed analysis of portions of your genetic code, and comparing it to mine, your mother's grandfather was the younger brother of _my _mother's grandfather. We're third cousins, Asuka. We're family. And… you're an Uchiha."

The young redhead almost fainted then & there.

"Now as to how this has happened, I haven't a clue" Teana continued. "Someone at some point in your recent ancestry on your mother's side must've crossed over from the shinobi's world, just like my mom did. We found Kyōko Sōryū's birth certificate data, so it wasn't her. But we haven't found any such thing for _her _mother, Ren Sōryū. It's likely that she is or was the realm-hopping Uchiha. We'll do some more digging, and see if we can come up with anything else." She paused. "And yes, though you have not yet awakened it, you have the _Sharingan _gene sequence."

About a minute later, the older redhead was beside her younger counterpart, a hand on the girl's shoulder as she helped the young teen calm herself down. Finally, Asuka got a handle on her emotions.

"This was all a big shock for me, too" Teana said softly. "I almost couldn't fall asleep last night, as all the implications hit home. …Even though you're… family, I won't insist on involving myself in your life. I've heard how you don't like it when people do that. Just… remember that you have kin out there if ever you need me."

"…Actually…" Asuka said in a low, even tone. "I… think I'd like to try getting to… to know you… Maybe we could, like, hang out some; do… family stuff, I dunno…"

Teana smiled. "Okay. …I've always kinda wondered what it would be like to be a big sister."

Asuka then looked up at her, one set of blue eyes meeting another. "I guess I could see if I'd like having a big-sis figure… _nee-san_." She stood up, looking up at her somewhat-taller third-cousin. "…If you ever tell anyone I did this, I'll deny it" she said, before she then surprised Teana by hugging her. The older girl's face quickly shifted to a smile, though, as she returned the embrace, one hand on the younger's back while the other softly stroked the back of her head.

"We can stay like this for a while if, you want" Teana whispered. "I know for a fact that Shinji-kun isn't the only one suffering from a severe shortage of hugs."

Asuka said nothing, but she nuzzled closer, hiding her face, and her embrace tightened a little.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Same Location**

**1050 Hours**

The revelation of blood-ties between the two redheads came as quite the surprise to most (Misato had already had "a feeling" regarding it). Now, the pilots, Misato, and the girls of Gamma & Teams sat in front of a large monitor as, using genetic analysis and TSAB magitech scrying, it prepared to display a "family tree" for certain Uchiha clan members.

'I wonder who my mother's ancestors were…' Teana thought. 'Considering her brother Fugaku was Clan Head, there must be some important folk amongst them.'

The screen came to life, showing, at the bottom, semi-chibified heads atop names – Teana, Tiida (his image's colors faded, and a red line across his name), Sasuke, Itachi (in the same state as Tiida), and Asuka. Lines came upward from each of the five mini-figures; Teana's & Tiida's joined to one line that led to a new forming individual: Sayuri Uchiha. Next to them, Sasuke & Itachi's lines led up to a dour-looking man – Fugaku Uchiha. Asuka's line went up to a newly-forming Kyōko Uchiha. All three were faded to near-grey. Sayuri's and Fugaku's forming lines then merged and led to a (grey) man marked "Sōchirō Uchiha", while Kyōko's led up to Ren Uchiha… whose figure was _not _grey, and there was no line through her name.

"She's still alive?" Asuka murmured, eyes wide. "My… My maternal grandmother's still alive somewhere?"

Then a line moved up from Ren Uchiha, forming an image of a black-haired man, his image grayed out, and a red line through his name: Izuna Uchiha.

"Izuna…" Marie muttered. "But that means…"

The line moved up from Teana's grandfather, leading to a severe-looking man with long, bushy/spiky hair, his name (with a red line through it) printed below for all to see: MADARA UCHIHA. Teana let out a strangled gasp, and over the next several seconds it all sank in. Her mother's murderer had been her own grandfather. And… Teana was short of breath, and she suddenly felt tainted, unclean. _She was the great-granddaughter of the traitorous, vile monster Madara_. _She carried the Fallen One's blood_.

The moment Teana started impulsively scratching at her arms and wrists, her breathing short and sharp, Marie and Subaru immediately rushed in and hugged her from both sides, holding her tightly. After about half a minute of this, she gradually calmed down. As the rational part of her mind came back and reminded her how Tiida and Itachi – two good, pure-hearted souls who fought for what was just and right – were also Madara's great-grandchildren, and thus that the man's evil was either not hereditary or had all converged solely in Sasuke, the lone of the four to fall to darkness (and even then under fairly understandable circumstances), she calmed down further.

"S-Sorry about that" she said, her voice still a little unsteady. "I lost my head for a moment there."

"You okay now?" Misato asked softly, concern on her face.

"Y-Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine…"

'It probably explains where Tia's massive chakra reserves and raw power come from' Subaru thought.

The somber mood was ruined by Teana's stomach growling. She blushed lightly in response. Then Marie's followed suit. Then Asuka's, and then Rei's.

"Okay," Sarah said, "Asa, Mai, Shinji, come help me fix somethin' up in the kitchen."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Same Location – 1120 Hours**

In a corner of the main room, three girls sat lost in their thoughts as they ate their lunches, all of said thoughts revolving around a single person.

'I do not understand it' Rei thought. 'When I am close to Ikari-kun, I feel… at ease. And the strength of that feeling has grown the longer I have known him. And whenever he touches me, even if it is to grasp my hand or grip my shoulder… it is… warm. It is an odd type of warmth, one that is… good. Very good. When there is no-one else around me, I have that odd, unpleasant feeling. When _he _is around, it is lesser than when around others. …Why? Why is it that whenever Ikari-kun is near me… I really, _really _don't want him to leave? And I… want him to be closer to me, to… touch me more…'

'What's _with _me?' Asuka thought, her face slightly flushed as she intently focused on her food, her fork stabbing it like it had insulted her. 'This morning, when I was getting ready, I actually thought 'I wonder what Shinji would think of this hairband'… Why do I suddenly care what that _baka _thinks of me? Kaji's the man for me… …isn't he? Shinji's a spineless wimp, he's constantly afraid, he's feminine, he's… patient, he's… kind, and a superb cook, and understanding, and he's soft and cute and gentle and for his age it looks like he has a fairly big- GAH! WHAT AM I THINKING?-!'

'I can't be feeling this…' Mana thought. 'I _can't_! Love and attraction are girly things! If I feel them, that'd make me unfocused, make me weak! Damn it, Shinji! Why are you doing this to me?-! I… Why do you have to be such a good boy? Good and kind and gentle and… I g-guess if you kinda stretch it, since he's more feminine than I am he'd be the 'girl' of the relationship… i-if a relationship even existed, that is. But… even if it were to start out that way, I'd end up girling myself up unintentionally, I just know it. I'd get all feminine and soft and emotional, and it'd get harder and harder to pull myself together. And… if we were t-to… go all the way… Having a boy in… inside me would be the ultimate, irrefutable acknowledgement of me as a… as a girl. W-What if that were to somehow make all my toughness, my strength, my fire, my… _me_-ness go away, make me into a girly-girl who can't do anything without help, who cries at the drop of a hat, who… can't even fight right? I… I'm…'

"Hey, girls" Mari said as she came over to the trio. "You all look like you've got someone on your minds."

"W-Why would you say some_one_?" Asuka snapped defensively.

Mari smirked. "Because I keep catching you three making glances at him."

All three girls' faces flushed to varying degrees; Asuka's was the reddest. None of them could articulate a response to Mari's growing grin.

"I just wanna say two things to you girls…" Mari said as she slinked closer. "One: I have my eyes on Shinji, too. And two: I do not at all mind sharing him~."

All three girls had pretty much the same mental image of they and Mari happily clinging to a blushing but content Shinji; their faces went pink in response.

"Of course…" Mari purred as she hugged Asuka from behind, causing the redhead to squeak as soft hands rested on her tummy while soft breasts pressed against her back. "It would probably not just be me and you sharing _him_…" She blew softly on Asuka's ear, and the redhead jumped and shuddered. Before she could react, Mari let go, moving over and laying a gentle hand on Rei's cheek and softly stroking, the blue-haired girl's cheeks going red as she found herself leaning into it slightly. Then she shifted to a wary Mana who tried to lean away from her, only for the lithe and nimble Mari to slide up close and deliver a split-second peck on the lips.

Mari backed up a bit to survey her handiwork. All three girls looked bewildered by what had just happened, their faces red, none of them able to muster up words. They were looking right at Mari, a mixture of various emotions in their eyes; Rei's expression, in particular, bore a hint of what could only be called longing.

"Think about what I've said, girls" she told them. "And remember; Shinji-kun's so starved for affection, he'd likely be delighted to have _four _girls in his life… Oh, and remember; Shinji's a cellist. You know what they say about musicians…" she licked her lips. "They have very skilled fingers…"

With that, she left them to dwell in their thoughts. Their faces steadily went redder as other, more risqué images popped into their heads, involving Shinji, Mari, and each other.

'B-Becoming one with Ika… with S- Shinji-kun…' Rei thought. 'That would be… o-oh, my…'

'W-W-W-Why am I thinking of doing _that _with Baka-Shinji?' Asuka thought. 'And damn it, Makinami, why are _you _in there, too?-!'

'…Why did I picture having sex while wearing a little pink bow in my hair?' Mana thought. 'Seriously, what the shit?'

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

_**Starshot **_**– Gamma-7's Quarters**

**September 22, 2015 – 0755 Hours**

Sarah closed her eyes and relaxed, her towel still wrapped around her body, her long blonde hair hanging loose as Ginga diligently brushed it.

"So we're supposed to meet Mari-san's mother today" Ginga mused.

"Yeah" Sarah replied. "I gotta wonder what kind of person she is, to come out with someone like Mari."

"…I still can't believe Asuka's a blood relative of Tia."

"Well, they _do _look pretty alike… …The Thirteenth Angel's supposed to attack soon, isn't it?"

"According to Wash, yeah. What should we do?"

"I heard that Washington had something planned that would, in his words, 'mitigate the damage'…"

"Let's hope. So, you've gotta get dressed quick?"

"Yeah" Sarah grinned. "Gotta go wake Erika up for her morning change. Should probably do the same for Mariko, too."

"How come they haven't come down yet?"

"I think Erika's just nervous about all the people down there. Laicixa and Timmy are gonna try to get her to accompany them down planetside today, though. The Blood-Gulchers and Freelancers are probably gonna come along, too."

"Okay" Ginga replied. "So… We deal with whatever happens today, I call Vice over later this afternoon…"

The other girl giggled. "Sounds like a plan."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Downtown Tokyo-3 – 'Specialty Shop'**

**1125 Hours**

"Uh…" Asuka said, face a tad pink, as she looked up at the sign hanging over the shop. "Are we… sure this is the place?"

"Yep!" Mari replied cheerfully. "This is where my mama works! She owns this place; it's _really _successful!"

"Why are the windows either one-way mirrors or painted black?" Rei asked.

"…How'd I get dragged along for this, again?" Ritsuko asked.

"Eh, don't worry about the details" Teana replied. "Just imagine this is all a story and the part where you got roped in happened off-screen."

"C'mon!" Mari said, opening the door. The three pilots, Teana, Mana, Misato, and Ritsuko walked in, Mari letting the door close behind them. They looked around, spotting various "specialty items" – oddly-shaped furniture, things that had chains and/or locks on them or attached to them, a glass display that showed what looked like riding crops, and the shelves had various items and gadgets and toys.

"I didn't know your mom ran _this _kind of 'specialty shop', Mari-chan" Misato said, and then 'ooh'ed appreciatively as she looked at one toy on a nearby shelf.

"I feel like a shameless pervert just being in here" Shinji murmured, looking a tad uncomfortable.

"Same here" Asuka chimed in.

"…Hey, I think Subaru used one of those on me once" Teana muttered. "…I wonder if she still has it?"

"What does this do?" Rei pointed to one object. A slightly-blushing Mana whispered in her ear, and after several seconds the paler girl's face went pink. "Oh" she whispered.

'These items…' Ritsuko thought. 'A specialty store… and the surname Makinami… Why does it all…'

"Mama!" Mari called out. "We're here~!"

"Coming, Mari" a woman's voice replied from the back room.

Asuka tore her gaze away from an odd little device that she had 'unwillingly' imagined being used on her, and she caught sight of a woman who looked to be in her late 30s entering the main area from the back. She was tall, with long, straight black hair down to her waist, clad in a somewhat revealing black leather outfit, and looked at her shop's visitors with a calm, piercing, analytic gaze. Ritsuko's eyes widened as she recognized the woman.

"T… Tomoyo-sama…"

The woman's eyes locked on the bleach-blonde scientist. "Ritsuko…" she said in a velvety-smooth, sultry voice that had a tint of iron will in it. "It's been a while since we've been face-to-face."

"Y-Yes, ma'am. My apologies; events have conspired to eat up all of my time and limit my contact with old acquaintances."

"Ricchan, you know this woman?" Misato asked.

"I pretty much helped raise her after her mother's death" Tomoyo Makinami replied. She then slowly walked up to the group, her stride confident and controlled. Her body language, her expression, her eyes, her presence, all conspired to project an aura of authority, unspoken promises of frightening, wonderful things, and those subjected to it couldn't help but feel instinctively obedient and submissive to this woman. Even Misato, a Major, felt a twinge of subservience when the other woman locked eyes with her. Shinji couldn't fully understand why his cheeks felt a little warm (though the woman's superb figure and tight leather outfit probably had something to do with it), Asuka felt strangely vulnerable when Tomoyo's gaze drifted across her, Mana had to fight an urge to tremble – and not from fear, bizarrely enough – when the woman looked her in the eyes, and Rei ever-so-briefly felt the urge to bow before this mysterious new figure.

Tomoyo's attention focused on the Second & Third Children, who felt as if their souls were laid bare before this woman, yet were not in danger.

"…Yui and Kyōko's children?" she asked.

"Yep!" Mari replied as she put her arms around the two from behind, startling them. "This is Shinji and Asuka – pilots of Evangelion Units 01 and 02, respectively."

The woman nodded and gave the two a tiny smile, and then looked at Rei for several seconds.

'This girl… looks somewhat like Yui. But Yui only had one child, and this girl is the same age as Shinji, so that can't… Very curious…'

"This is Rei" Mari gestured to the quiet blue-haired girl. "Ayanami Rei – Pilot of Unit-00."

Finally, Tomoyo stood in front of Teana. Unlike the others, the older of the two redheads looked calm and controlled, meeting Tomoyo's gaze and holding it, a strength and calm fire in her eyes.

"…You're military, aren't you?" Tomoyo asked the girl. "I can tell by your stance, by the look in your eyes that says you've seen battle."

Teana nodded. "UNSC Second Lieutenant Teana Uchiha-Lanstar, head of UNSC Special-Ops squad Gamma Team, Gamma-1."

'Uchiha?' Tomoyo's eyes almost-imperceptibly widened. She gathered herself quickly. "Former JSDF Major Tomoyo Makinami, retired" she introduced herself.

Immediately, Teana's eyes widened a bit, and then her stance changed, becoming ramrod-stiff, chin held high, arms at her side. The look in her eyes had changed as well, the distrust and unspoken challenge vanishing.

"Sorry, ma'am" she said, all-business. "I have been standing before you with such disrespectful wariness and casualness; apologies for any offence caused by my ignorance of your position."

"At ease, Lieutenant" Tomoyo replied. "No offence was taken. Relax, dear; you are in friendly territory."

Teana visibly relaxed, though her demeanor around the woman had changed, becoming more open but also more controlled, instinctually continuing to afford the superior officer her due respect. Tomoyo's attention shifted to Mana, who felt inexplicably comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.

"And who is this pretty little flower?" Tomoyo said, laying a hand on Mana's cheek. Somehow, Mana found herself completely unable to even speak, much less snap at the woman for calling her something so… girly. Nonetheless, Tomoyo noticed the subtle change in her expression that said she wasn't happy about being treated such.

"This is Mana-chan" Mari replied, either not noticing or not caring that Mana flinched at the cutesy "-_chan_" suffix. "She's part of Sigma Team, a sister squad to Teana-san's Gamma Team."

"W…" Mana tried very hard not to stutter. "Warrant Officer Grade 3 Kirishima Mana, TSAB Sigma Team, Sigma-4" she introduced herself, doing her damndest to keep her tone level and lower in pitch.

"Mana-chan has huge, nasty issues with her femininity" Mari nonchalantly explained to her mother. "I dunno why; maybe it's connected to how she was a child soldier growing up back in the later days of the Hokkaido Insurrection, or how she's a cyborg as a result of injuries sustained during that conflict."

While Mana certainly felt indignant over her personal details being so casually revealed to someone she didn't know, Tomoyo's mysterious 'presence' worked to keep Mana from saying anything.

"I see…" Tomoyo replied, softly stroking the petrified girl's cheek. For some reason, Mana felt somewhat fearful of this woman, yet at the same time her 'aura' enveloped and supported her, as if to say 'Obey and submit to me, and I will protect you while giving you safety, comfort, happiness, and pleasure'. And the truly frightening thing was that Mana almost _wanted _to do just that. This woman… commander, leader, owner, mistress, mother… the longer her gentle hand remained on Mana's skin, the more deeply the woman's eyes stared into hers with a mixture of reassuring dominance and motherly, nurturing understanding, the more the boyish cyborg felt her will erode, like every "wimpy/girly" part of her that was buried deep, deep down had woken up at once and was trying to fight its way out. The urge to slap the woman's hand away and snap at her, masculine and strong and unconquerable, fought with the urge to blush, submit, allow herself to be coddled, become a little girl for this mommy.

Tomoyo smiled and leaned in close. "You shouldn't be so afraid of such an integral part of yourself, Mana-chan" she said warmly as she then kissed the girl on the forehead.

Mana couldn't stop a whimper from escaping her throat. Afraid? How dare she say such a thing? Her weaknesses were things to be conquered. And how dare she call them 'integral parts' of her? They weren't! They were disgusting, pathetic, dead weights, that'd keep her weighted down and helpless and unable to do anything on her own! And that… that… That terrified her, she finally realized.

'I'm… afraid…' Mana admitted to herself. 'I'm not disgusted by those parts of me, those desires, those feelings… I'm… _afraid _of them… I'm afraid of what they would do to me if I allowed them, if I stopped repressing them. I'm hardly ever afraid of _anything_… but… I'm more terrified of this than of anything else combined. If I allowed myself to think girlishly, to do anything feminine, to be anything like that, I… What if that were to make me lose something that makes me who I am? I… I'm so scared… What am I… supposed to do…?'

As Mana stood in place, quivering slightly, lost in her own turbulent thoughts, Tomoyo turned her attention to Teana. "So…" she said. "What's this I hear from Mari about extra-dimensional adventures?"

"…She told you about that, did she? I guess we can bring you into the fold; the pilots could use another stabilizing factor."

Ritsuko's personal communicator beeped, and she looked down to read the small display screen. "I need to take this" she said. "I'll be right outside."

As the scientist left, Teana returned her attention to Tomoyo. "Anything else you'd like to know?"

"I've heard rumors about NERV's Commander – they say he's a cold, manipulative bastard, whoever he is."

"Ah yes, Commander Ikari…" Teana said with disdain. Tomoyo's eyes widened. 'Ikari? …It can't be…'

"What can I say about Ikari Gendō?" Teana continued, hand to her forehead as she thought; Tomoyo's ridiculous suspicion was confirmed. 'That… That lazy, fight-happy, good-for-nothing bum Rokubungi is head of NERV?-!'

"Rumor has it he used to be more… alive…" Teana said. "But now… Cold, ruthless, amoral, ice-hearted, soulless, cruel, emotionless, manipulative, treacherous, willing to use and discard anyone & everyone around him to further his own goals, even his own son, willing to ruin and sacrifice millions of innocent lives to get what he wants, coldly logical, stoically murderous, near-tyrannical, rules through fear, sees no inherent value in the lives of anyone, treats Shinji like he were lower than shit…"

'Good God, what did losing Yui do to him?'

"How did that worthless lout become a monster?" Tomoyo murmured. "I can't believe it…"

"The phrase 'from a nobody to a nightmare' comes to mind…" Teana replied. "So, you seem to have an odd… aura to you, for lack of a better word. The others seem… instinctually submissive to you."

"It comes from being both an experienced military leader and an experienced dominatrix."

"Oh. Well… Um…" Teana looked around. Blushing slightly, she leaned close and whispered. "A-Also, how much for… that item right there? Second shelf, third from the right?"

Just then, Ritsuko came back in, looking a tad pale and shaken.

"What's wrong?" Misato asked her.

"There was an… accident with Unit-04 over in NERV Nevada. …Both the Evangelion and the base are… no longer existent."

"Like… they no longer 'officially' exist on paper or among the public, like the MIB?"

"No… They've been completely atomized, along with a significant chunk of the surrounding area. They're _gone_."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Base**

**1530 Hours**

"W-Well, this isn't so bad…" Erika said. "I'm pretty glad this building has air conditioning, though."

"Yeah," Marie replied, "supposedly this whole planet's climate got fucked up when Adam's awakening knocked it off its axis. Theoretically, some of our discovered Forerunner tech from Onyx could re-align this Earth to its original axial tilt, but it'll have to be done over the course of about a decade or two – doing it all at once would cause just as big a catastrophe as the last time that happened."

"Fuyutsuki-san mentions this place used to get beautiful snowfall in the winter…" Shinji said sadly. "I've never even seen snow in my entire life, except in movies and pictures."

"I h-haven't really, either" Erika said. "Even though I'm from an Earth w-where Second Impact never happened, I was born in Southern California and then moved up to near San Francisco when I was around eight. W-We don't get snow there. And so far, I h-haven't encountered snow during any of our transdimensional travels yet, either."

"When we next have time and we're on Midchilda again," Teana said, "how about I take you up to the mountains? There's some good snowfall up there in the late Autumn and most of Winter."

"R-Really? I'll get to finally e-experience snow up close? …Thank you."

The happy little smile on the girl's face melted the hearts of those who saw it.

'So cute~…' Shinji, Asuka, and Mari thought simultaneously.

The door to the common room opened, and an orange-armored man walked in, sinking into a reinforced chair. "Ugh…" he groaned.

"What's up, Grif?" Marie asked.

"Donut and Tucker are caught in a feedback loop of bad jokes" he replied. "After 20 minutes of that shit, I _had _to get away."

In the base's comm. room, another armored figure stood before a large screen, communicating with two men deep in the bowels of NERV HQ.

"_To what do we owe this conversation, Agent Washington?_" Fuyutsuki asked.

"We have… overheard that Evangelion Unit Zero-Three will be transferred over to NERV-Japan's jurisdiction soon, correct?"

"_That is correct_" the Commander replied.

"And you plan to initiate an activation test, to ensure that the Unit can function."

"_Yes_" Fuyutsuki said. "_Where are you going with this?_"

"And Dr. Akagi mentions that you intend to draft the Fourth Child for this."

"…_Yes_" Ikari replied. "_What of it?_"

"I've heard… whispers of an emergency autopilot feature you guys are developing for the Evas. So I was thinking: why not use that to test Unit-03?"

"_Elaborate_"

"You don't need to get the Evangelion into action right away; you just need to make sure the damn thing will turn on. You don't need a pilot for that; just stick an autopilot plug in there, use it to start Eva-03 up and rev its engines for a bit to see if everything's working, and there you have it – a working Eva, without risking a resource as valuable as a pilot in case things go FUBAR."

After several seconds, Gendō turned to a nearby terminal. "_You're listening in, I presume, Dr. Akagi?_"

"_Y-Yes, sir_"

"_Could it work?_"

"…_Theoretically… Yes, I believe it could work._"

"_Hm. Very well, Agent Washington. We will go with your proposal – a Dummy Plug will be used for Evangelion Zero-Three's activation test._"

"Thank you, sir. I'm just glad you accepted my suggestion for keeping a pilot out of unnecessary risk. That will be all, Commander."

Commander Ikari nodded and then disconnected the comm. link. Wash turned around and walked out of the room.

'Looks like I've helped you dodge a bullet, Suzuhara…' he thought.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Hills Outside Tokyo-3**

**September 24, 2015 – 1845 Hours**

The four Evangelions all stood waiting. Shinji recalled how, less than an hour ago, word had come that something had happened at Eva-03's testing site. Now, there was an Angel on the way. He looked over at his three partners. Eva-02 stood tall, crimson armor shining in the setting sun, Eva-scale vibro-axe readied. Eva-00, blue armor looking good as new, gripped a precision burst-fire rifle. Mari's Eva-05, with yellow and orange plating, stood atop the hill, presently in bipedal form (apparently, its two humanoid lower legs could transform into four wheeled limbs for high-speed battles). He was dimly aware of Mana, sulking in HQ – after she'd departed this Earth and headed to Midchilda, NHIS had "reclaimed" Jet-2, leaving her unable to participate in _kaiju_-scale fights.

"Do we have any intel on our target?" Shinji asked over the comm.

"_It is near_" Rei replied. "_We should be able to see it soon._"

Soon enough, the entity lumbered into the area; the pilots felt shocked as they looked upon Evangelion-03.

"T-That's an Evangelion!" Asuka shouted.

"_It __used__ to be an Evangelion_" Commander Ikari replied. "_The 13__th__ Angel has infiltrated, corrupted, and possessed it. It's an Angel now._"

"But… But what about the pilot?"

"_There is none_" Teana's voice replied. "_We decided to perform 03's activation test with a new emergency autopilot feature NERV's developing for the Evas. There's no captive person in that thing; just an Angel. So kill 'em dead!_"

As it laid eyes on the four Evangelions, Bardiel let out an earth-shaking roar, its AT Field flared to life, and two extra arms punched their way out from its armor.

"Easier said than done, _nee-san_" Asuka said.

"_Aw, c'mon, you guys have faced bigger and scarier Angels than this!_" Misato chimed in.

"Alright, let's do this!" Mari shouted enthusiastically, the combat drill on her Evangelion's right arm spinning up.

Shinji looked out at his allies. Then he steeled himself, and Eva-01 drew its prog-knife. "Right!"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Developments continue in the next chapter

I got the character of Tomoyo from an obscure X-rated _Evangelion _fic on Media-Miner… a fic that has since been removed for reasons beyond my comprehension, and I can no longer find it anywhere on the entire Internet. …Her being Mari's mother, however, is wholly my fabrication.


	4. Progress

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

The scene at the mall is vaguely based on a similar happening in Crazy-88's fic "Once More With Feeling", a wonderfully-made, epic-idea, five-star NGE fic that _**HASN'T UPDATED IN OVER TWO FUCKING YEARS ARGH!-!-!**_

So if you're gonna be slightly (or more) offended by the idea of a flamboyantly campy male hairstylist, blame Crazy-88, not me.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Hills Outside Tokyo-3**

**September 24, 2015 – 1850 Hours**

The 13th Angel Bardiel was forced on the defensive immediately as Unit-00 fired rifle shots at it, distracting it long enough to Unit-02 to get in close with its axe, which bit deep into the corrupted Eva-03's right shoulder armor. The beast roared and lashed out with a kick to 02's midsection, knocking it back. It then narrowly dodged a stab to the face from Unit-01, only for the purple Eva to hit it with a lariat move, knocking it to the ground. Unit-00 was there too, and fired three close-range 3-round bursts with its rifle into Bardiel's torso, fracturing the chest armor. The corrupted Evangelion lashed out with its four arms, forcing Units 00 and 01 to leap back before they could deal any serious damage.

No sooner had Bardiel gotten back up on its feet than Eva-05 came rushing in, striking out with the drill on its right arm. Sparks flew as the bipedal Angel shifted to the side just in time, the drill scraping the armor on its left side, gouging through the armor even with this glancing blow. It lashed out at the side of 05's head with its upper right arm, only for the Eva's left arm to come up and block. Its lower right arm struck a moment later, a spearing strike aimed at 05's chest. Unit-02 was suddenly there, however, catching Bardiel's wrist and then twisting, breaking it. Bardiel roared in pain and rage, and then leapt back. It then noticed something: where was the red Evangelion's axe?

The question was answered as it suddenly felt its A.T. Field be completely cancelled out by Units 00, 02, and 05, just in time for Unit-01, which was now behind Bardiel, to swing the progressive axe with all its might, decapitating the off-guard Angel. The massive head fell to the ground with a heavy thud and was promptly crushed under Unit-00's foot; the body fell to its knees, and 00 quickly fired a few bursts down its open neck and into its body, just to be sure. The lifeless former Evangelion toppled, shaking the earth as it did.

"Thirteenth Angel terminated" Rei reported.

"_So we saw_" Misato replied. "_Excellent teamwork, all of you. The target's Core has gone completely silent. Come on home, kids._"

"Damn good thing we had a Dummy Plug in there instead of a pilot" Ritsuko muttered.

In the command room, Teana turned to Agent Washington. "I'd say that went significantly better than in the original timeline, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh yeah" the cobalt-armored man replied. "Definitely."

"…We're still gonna offer Suzuhara and his family help with his little sister's injuries, right?"

"Eh, sure, why not?"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Vegetable Garden**

**Inside the Geofront**

**September 24, 2015 – 2010 Hours**

Ryōji Kaji looked up from watering his cabbage patch as the man in the fancy gray suit walked up. "Mr. Kaji?" the man asked.

The double-reverse-quadruple-agent sighed. "What do the Old Men want now?"

"I do not represent SEELE or NERV" the mystery man replied. "I represent the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence; I'm part of the Section-3 attaché for the _Starshot_. We know now exactly what Commander Ikari and SEELE are planning to do. And we'd like your help to stop them."

"That's quite a claim you're making. How exactly do you know these things?"

The ONI agent pulled free a small, thin silver rod. In a flash, a TSAB standard Storage Device activated, and a pulse of light enveloped him and everything within 20 meters, including Kaji.

"I may not be much in the way of magical potential," he said, "but I can at least pull off a small-scale Barrier Shift spell, just to make sure nobody listens in. As for how we know? Well… Do you recall how the events of my universe were a work of fiction in that of Ms. Swanson's universe?"

"Ah, I see where you're going: the events of _this _world have a fictional counterpart in some other realms, don't they?"

"Precisely. And Agent Washington happens to have viewed the series in question."

"So when he pestered the Commander to use a Dummy Plug for Unit-03's activation test…"

"He knew that the Thirteenth Angel would possess the Unit. He was acting to safeguard the Fourth Child, and more importantly to safeguard the Third Child's mental state. In the 'original' timeline, young Mr. Ikari couldn't bring himself to risk harming the trapped pilot… so the Commander activated the Dummy Plug and made Shinji watch as Unit-01, now wholly out of his control, brutally ripped Eva-03 apart, ending by crushing the Entry Plug in its jaws. Less than an hour later, the Commander had to up 01's cockpit LCL pressure and knock Shinji unconscious to prevent the boy from literally tearing the NERV pyramid apart."

"Goodness…" the man muttered. "Thank God for Agent Washington's interference, then. I assume I'm the first NERV agent you all have told?"

"Yes. Miss Kirishima has been informed, but has sworn secrecy, as have the others informed; an accidental leak could force SEELE's hand."

"Or worse, the Commander's."

"Quite right. It will not be long before the Commander's agenda diverges from SEELE's, but until then a misstep could result in them joining forces against us. We need to be discreet until the time is right. We plan to 'subvert' – for lack of a better word – a small handful of NERV personnel, to undermine Commander Ikari's authority and lay false tracks to keep SEELE guessing. You're one of them, due to your unique skills and connections. …Join us, Mr. Kaji, and help us prevent Armageddon."

"…Where and when do I learn the full story?"

"Come to the coalition's groundside base near Geofront Access Point 7-B, tonight at 2130 hours. We'll explain everything we know."

The two spies shook hands in agreement.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Tokyo-3 Mall**

**September 25, 2015 – 1001 Hours**

An odd group walked through the mall that had been open to visitors as of 85 seconds ago, some members of the group being ushered/pulled along by others. It wasn't long before they arrived at their destination.

"A… salon?" Rei asked, recalling the word.

"Not just any salon" Asuka replied. "The finest in the entire prefecture! I was able to book us appointments here, thanks to who we are."

"Well, it certainly looks fancy…" Teana commented. "I'm not sure I really need…"

"Oh, c'mon, _nee-san_" Asuka said. "I know for a fact that you don't put much effort into caring for your hair and skin… Not that you _need _to; guess you got good genes in those departments. But still, you deserve to be pampered a little." She looked over at her pale, poor-complexioned fellow pilot with unruly blue hair. "Though _somebody _needs a makeover more than you, I'd say. Rei, what do you wash with?"

"…Soap" the girl replied.

"Nothing special? No exfoliators, moisturizers, conditioners, any of that?"

"No. …Is that bad?"

"…We're gonna be here a while, methinks."

"I can't go in there…" Mana muttered, looking at the place like it was a giant monster sizing her up for a snack. "I'm not this kinda girl; there's no way I could feel comfortable getting a m… m-makeover…"

"Oh, relax" Mari replied. "It's not like we're gonna dress you up in pink frills or something; you're just getting some things touched up – your hail, your nails, your complexion… Besides, we've got Shinji-kun along for it, too" she pulled the boy close, and he blushed lightly both from the proximity to a pretty girl and from being implicated in this whole thing.

"Yeah, but he's feminine enough that it suits him. Not like me. I don't know what this'll do to me. I… I don't wanna be some pretty little girly-girl who-"

"Enough" Asuka interrupted. "We need to start breaking you of this ridiculous 'femininity equals weakness' hang-up you've got. After today, when these people are through with you, you will be prettier, neater, with softer skin and shinier hair and all that, and I swear to the heavens above you _will not _be any less of a hardcore fearless badass. If I'm wrong, I will let you punch me in the face as hard as you can afterwards. Now, come on girls… and boy. Let's get this started!"

Shinji and Mana quickly found themselves being half-ushered, half-dragged into the facility by Mari and Asuka, respectively, while Rei and Teana followed close behind, uncertain. Asuka scanned her NERV I.D. card with the crimson "02" on it, validating her city-saving identity and the fact she had an appointment for a party of six, and the manager walked out.

"So what's the occasion, Sōryū-san?" she asked.

"These guys need it" she replied. "Mari-san and I take care of ourselves relatively well, but… Rei here has never washed herself with anything other than soap & water and doesn't even fully understand the concept of skin care, Teana-_nee _is a young soldier who's never performed the kind of delicate maintenance you all can provide, Mana-chan is a hard-ass, tough-as-nails extreme tomboy who has _huge _issues with her femininity and we're here to try to break her of the fear that doing or thinking anything even remotely feminine could leave her 'weak and ineffectual and girly',"

Mana felt nervous as several of the (all female) staff members looked at her.

"and Shinji-_baka _here is a bundle of nerves, has never really taken care of himself due to some self-esteem problems, and is feminine enough that he'll probably end up enjoying this."

"Asuka…" the boy muttered, his cheeks tinged pink.

"Well, we certainly have our work cut out for us" the manager said. "Don't worry, though; challenges exist to be overcome."

"My sergeant back in the War used to say that…" Mana thought aloud.

"Sergeant? War?"

"Mana-chan here fought for the loyalists in the Hokkaido Insurrection" Mari replied. "As a conscript. From ages six to 10. It's probably where a lot of her issues stem from."

Several of the staff members barely suppressed gasps of shock, and Mana felt embarrassed and indignant that they now looked at her with only-partially-concealed pity. Both sides in the Insurrection had used child soldiers, which was seen by the nation's people as a disgrace and a catastrophic moral failure on the part of Japan nowadays (never mind that many other nations had done that and worse during their own post-Impact conflicts; Pakistan and India nuking each other into annihilation came to mind, as did Chinese Separatists using captured civilians as involuntary suicide bombers, or Iran & Iraq wantonly fire-bombing each other's population centers), and most survivors of that hellish role were looked upon with regret and pity by the average citizen.

That was why Mana didn't go around advertising it; she didn't want to bepitied or treated with kid gloves (or worse, carted off to one of those touchy-feely psychologists whose job it was to deal with former child soldiers; Mana had been very careful to give the slip to the government personnel whose job it was to find the survivors of the Hokkaido Insurrection's child soldiers and bring them in for mandatory therapy). Why would she need that kind of treatment? She was perfectly fine! Despite what was said or hinted by the Eva pilots. Or by her compatriots of Sigma Team. Or by the TSAB and UNSC doctors who kept recommending she talk to someone. Or by Dr. Akagi and Commander Ikari that one time. Seriously, though; she only woke up screaming about once a week on average (compared to four times a week two years ago, which was solid progress in her book), nowadays she almost never went for an instinctive attack whenever someone accidentally surprised or snuck up on her, she hadn't made a dive for cover upon hearing fireworks in several months… she was fine. Really. …Right?

"If you would all follow me" one of the staff-members said. She led the six teens into a rather spacious room with several swiveling chairs; jazz music was playing over the speakers. The six patrons took their seats, and two staff moved in on each of them. They soon found their shoes & socks being removed, as the attendants got to work on their nails.

"No nail polish" Mana specified. "Got it?"

"Of course, honey" replied the lady now working on her fingernails.

-_Mini-Break_-

Shinji felt a little nervous as he laid face-down on the massage table, clad only in his briefs. His cheeks flushed as one of the rather attractive staff-members walked in and up to him, giving him a warm, comforting smile. He let out an involuntary gasp as he felt her soft, warm hands touch his back and begin firmly working on his muscles.

"You need to eat more" she said matter-of-factly. "I can feel your ribs much too easily."

"Circumstances conspire to k-Mn!... keep me from eating much" Shinji replied sheepishly.

"You're wound up tighter than a spring, you poor boy. Relax and let me work out this… concerning amount of tension you have."

In the next room over, Mana was trying very hard not to let moans escape as her muscles were made to relax and unwind partly against their will. That was something girly-girls did, right? So she wouldn't. She startled as she felt a curious finger trace a portion of scar tissue along her side.

"Oh" the woman caught herself. "S-Sorry, dear. I was just… a little curious…"

Mana rolled onto her side, exposing the large, jagged scar that marred a good portion of her stomach area.

"Grenade" she said. "Point-blank; I dived on it to protect my squad. I was eight years old. Ripped up a lot of my organs, and it did a number on my arms too, since I'd crossed them over the grenade to contain the blast further. They had to use some cybernetics to put me back together; if you're working on my back or arms and feel something really hard, that's probably one of my cyborg components."

She promptly laid back down on her front to avoid the shocked and pitying gaze the woman gave her, and closed her eyes again. A few seconds later, she felt the staff-member resume her work, but now the woman had apparently stepped up her game a little, and Mana bit her lip to suppress a whimper as the odd pleasure resumed in earnest. Finally, she failed to stop a rather feminine whimpering moan from escaping, to her mortification. Her tender gave no quarter, however, and the hardcore tomboy bore a blush on her cheeks as she continued to involuntarily produce very girlish sounds of enjoyment that she couldn't hope to stop.

In the next room over, Rei had already practically melted as her staff-member worked on her, lost in a haze of relaxation and pleasure that she _never _wanted to leave. Commander Ikari himself could've shown up and ordered her to get up, and she would've told him to buzz off.

-_Mini-Break_-

Asuka gave a content sigh as she relaxed into the hot tub filled with water carrying a unique mix of chemicals for healthier skin. Teana, Rei, and Mana were already in with her. As the last two people entered the room, she almost shouted an objection, but then noticed that Shinji was wearing a blindfold and had a towel around his waist, being led by a nude and grinning Mari. As they climbed in, she yanked his towel away just before he sat down in the water, drawing a surprised yelp from him and a blush from Rei, who'd been looking at just the right place at just the right time to catch a split-second glimpse. Mari sat down next to the boy, arching her back in a stretch. Asuka felt a pang of envy as Eva-05's pilot showed off her considerable assets by doing so… and couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from the sight. Mari noticed, looking Asuka in the eyes and giving a coy smile.

"I'm glad you like what you see, Asuka" she purred.

The young redhead blushed and averted her eyes, sputtering. Teana had to work hard to avoid audibly laughing at her third-cousin's reaction.

"I still feel a little uncomfortable about all this…" Mana muttered.

"Oh, relax" Teana replied. "I embrace my feminine traits, and yet I'm one of the biggest badasses in the coalition."

"I _know _it's not impossible for some women to be both feminine and badass" Mana retorted defensively. "I've learned that by now. I've seen what Takamachi and Aqua can do. I just think it's impossible for _me _to be any sort of feminine without losing any of my edge! I just… I don't know anymore…"

Silently, Rei placed a hand on Mana's shoulder.

"We'll still love you no matter what happens, Mana" Shinji said with a smile forming beneath his blindfolded eyes.

"Gee, thanks" Mana said with much snark, though she couldn't stop the blush from forming on her cheeks.

"Ooh, lookie!" Asuka said, pulling out several odd-looking gloves. "We get these cool things!"

-_Mini-Break_-

"I'm tempted to eat them."

"Huh?" Asuka said in response to Mana's sudden statement.

"These pickle things on my eyes" Mana replied. "I'm kinda tempted to eat them."

"They're cucumbers, not pickles" Shinji cut in.

"Whatever!"

The six teens now found themselves lying back in comfy chairs, clad only in soft cotton robes, a treatment mixture covering their face, their heads tilted back slightly as their hair was tended to (Asuka and Teana, due to the sheer length of their hair, had two people each working on them).

"Girls…" Shinji spoke up. "Not that I haven't enjoyed this, but… you must never, _ever _breathe a _single word _of this to Tōji or Kensuke. _**Ever**_. Got it?"

"If I ever let it slip to either of them," Asuka replied, "I've got some blackmail material on them I've kept in reserve that'll sure as Hell keep them quiet."

Rei, meanwhile, was in her own little world. Years of simple, bare-bones self-cleaning, coupled with all the countless times she'd been in that tank while her neural network was meticulously scanned, meant that a sizable amount of what Asuka termed "LCL gunk" had built up in and on her skin, deadening her sense of touch somewhat. The hot-tub treatment and exfoliating gloves had gotten rid of all that, and exposed new, sensitive skin directly to the world for the first time. The quiet girl was in borderline sensory overload, trying very hard not to writhe in pleasure from the cool, soft cotton robe that enveloped her, suppressing a not-unpleasant shudder as an attendant carefully washed and treated her hair, working to perform the same 'purification' on her scalp. Every sensation was like new, and she wanted _more_.

"You've got such nice, thick, strong hair" Shinji's attendant said to him. "I wish I had hair like yours. Mine is all thin and gets tangled all the time."

"I got it from my mom, apparently" the boy replied.

"I should bring Hikari here sometime" Asuka said offhandedly. "That girl could use a little prettying up, if only to help her with her self-image…" she smirked. "And it'd probably help her catch Suzuhara's attention more easily…"

"Yeah," Shinji chuckled, "the guy's cool and all, but I swear he's thick as a brick. How he doesn't notice the hints and signs she's giving him, I have no idea."

The two pilots shared a laugh over their friends' predicament.

-_Mini-Break_-

Asuka, Mana, and Rei had a seat in the three barber's chairs, seated before a hairstylist who was very, very camp (he even had a purple sweater) and the man's two female (yet equally campy) assistants. Mana had very adamantly specified nothing "girly"; the stylist, having been quietly told by one of the staff-members of what this girl was like and had been through, nodded… though he still planned to add just a little feminine flair to the girl's auburn hair. Just another step to help show the girl that she could be pretty and cute without losing her badassery (and from what he'd heard and could see, this girl would _definitely _still be a hard-charging, fearless badass even if she dressed in pink lace and pigtails… though actually dressing her like that would probably be a very bad idea; she'd likely end up overcompensating for the perceived 'loss of ferocity' and do something suicidally reckless).

As the three got to work, the male stylist and Teana struck up a conversation, the older redhead pleasantly surprised to find someone else fluent in Hungarian.

"{So you're a child soldier, too?}" he asked her.

"{Not quite}" she replied. "{I've been training since I was 13, and didn't see any actual lethal combat until I was 16 – which, in the culture I fought with, is the legal enlistment age.}"

"{You're quite fluent for a non-native speaker.}"

"{I was taught by my mentor Jorge. He grew up speaking English and Hungarian in concert. He was like a father to me.}"

"{Was?}"

"{He sacrificed his life to destroy an enemy supercarrier with a makeshift bomb, to save a lot of people. …And then, less than a minute after his noble death, a massive enemy fleet showed up, invalidating his sacrifice. Everyone he died to save ended up being killed anyway.}"

She was quiet after that. He let her be so.

-_Mini-Break_-

As the sextet finally exited the establishment and entered the mall proper, they headed for a nearby wide bench, sitting together. Mana felt a little self-conscious, residual embarrassment still present. Rei was staring into space, one arm slowly rubbing against the other.

"You all right, wondergirl?" Asuka asked.

The blue-haired girl looked at her. "…I am _more _than 'alright', Sōryū" she replied, muted elation in her tone. "My sense of touch has been boosted such that I can truly _feel_, the tension and stress of my muscles, which I'd always assumed was natural, is gone, I have gotten to spend time with you all, joining you in… _enjoying _all of this… I feel _alive_."

"Good" Asuka said. "It's nice to see you actually emote."

"Yeah" Mari said, as she put an arm around Mana and pulled her close so the shorter girl's head rested on her shoulder. "That was fun."

"I don't like feeling pretty…" Mana whispered to herself, thinking aloud. "I _can't _like it… So why… And why don't I feel any weaker?"

"Because you _aren't _any weaker" Mari replied with a gentle tone, resting her head on Mana's while her hand softly rubbed the girl's opposite-side upper arm, holding her close. "There's nothing wrong with being a little girly once in a while. You're still you. You're still Mana Kirishima, the badass special-ops soldier. Letting yourself have a little feminine enjoyment will not change that. Letting yourself enjoy being a girl won't weaken you. I promise you: you will not come out of this weaker. In fact… you're probably _stronger_ now."

"How could… all that beauty treatment stuff have made me stronger?" Mana asked, uncertain.

"You did something girly. You let yourself be pampered. And you enjoyed it. And you're still the same person at heart that you were before. And you know it. Now, you know you can let yourself be that little bit more feminine and not be left diminished in any way as a result. You haven't lost anything. You've _gained _something: the ability to enjoy being cared for, the courage to let yourself be a little girly, the knowledge that you can be a little feminine without fear of weakness, without losing who and what you are. I promise you this: no matter how girly you may get, you will not become weak as a result. If anything, this will help you become strong. You have both masculine and girlish feminine traits, and with them you are stronger, you are closer to complete, and you better than ever. You are Mana Kirishima. And now you've become just a little better than you already were before."

Mana didn't understand why she gave into the urge to hug Mari and let herself be embraced closely, despite the presence of various passers-by in the fairly crowded mall. Nor did she fully understand, when she felt the other four laying gentle, comforting hands on her, why she felt tears building in her eyes for the first time in years.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Groundside Headquarters**

**That Day – 1600 Hours**

"I take it things went well?" Aqua asked Teana as she came into the room, Subaru hot on her heels.

"Yeah" she replied. "I wasn't really sure about going through with this spa treatment thing, but it was kinda nice. More importantly, though, I think we're starting to make progress on breaking through Kirishima's issues. Granted, it'll probably be a _long_~ time before we see her voluntarily wearing skirts of something like that, but eh, one step at a time."

"Your skin feels so soft now, Tia" Subaru said as she ran a hand along Teana's forearm. "And your hair looks so shiny and nice. They did a really good job."

Teana blushed slightly at the compliments. "Well, Asuka did say that place was the best in the prefecture…"

The trio startled as they suddenly heard a shriek. They went into motion, following the sounds, and were joined by Shinji and Mari. They came upon the room where it was coming from… and boggled at the sight of Rei, squealing and giggling and wriggling around as a grinning Asuka subjected the pale girl's newly-sensitized skin to a full-out Tickle Attack. The blue-haired girl's breathless attempts to beg for mercy could barely get past her uncontrollable laughter. Asuka, meanwhile, was having the time of her life.

After several more seconds, she noticed the sudden audience and abruptly broke off, embarrassed to be caught doing something so childish. Rei's spontaneous giggles slowly tapered off as she caught her breath. Mari was grinning ear to ear. "C'mere, Asuka~" the buxom pilot said as she advanced on the redhead, fingers wiggling.

"Oh, no" Asuka muttered, and soon the chase was afoot.

Teana smirked as she turned around and left her younger third-cousin to get what was coming to her. As she reached the common room, she found Agent Washington sitting there.

"I heard you've called in some backup?" he asked.

"Yeah" Teana replied. "I have a feeling we might need some big guns soon enough."

"…The next Angel's gonna be tough."

"Hm?"

"Zeruel, the Fourteenth Angel. He's next. In the original timeline, he took out Units 00 and 02 pretty much at the same time, in less than a minute, effortlessly. He came out with nothing worse than a few surface burns after taking a point-blank 15-kiloton detonation. _Without _his AT Field."

Teana's expression hardened. "That bad, huh?"

"Yeah, and the last one we handled – Bardiel, the Thirteenth – didn't have that extra arms thing in the original canon. So… who knows what Number 14 might bring to the table in this iteration. Be ready for anything."

Teana nodded. 'You guys had better get here soon, Takamachi' she thought.

**-**_**CHAPTE END**_**-**

Next time: reinforcements, recruits, and the Angel of Might.


	5. Angel of Might

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

_**Starshot **_**Trans-Portal Room**

**September 26, 2015 – 0850 Hours**

"Truly a magnificent vessel…" Tomoyo Makinami muttered as she walked into the room, having finished an abbreviated tour.

"Yes" Kaji said, walking beside her. "The Forerunners knew how to build ships, that's for sure."

The two were still in shock a little from being informed of things by Agent Washington and Colonel Holland. Kaji knew that this was exactly the goldmine of info that his _real _employers, the Japanese government's internal investigations bureau, needed… but without solid proof of SEELE's and Gendō's insanity, he couldn't bring it to them… yet. Tomoyo, meanwhile, was shocked to learn the true, horrible fates of Yui & Kyōko… and horrified at just how much of an insane monster Gendō had really become, not only perfectly willing to render humanity extinct just to be reunited with Yui, but actually _planning _to! Not to mention that Ritsuko had 'fallen' just like her mother, becoming another self-deluding pawn of the Commander's. And then there was the true depth of Shinji & Asuka's mental issues…

Thankfully, the group had apparently recently been hard at work steering Rei away from the path Gendō had laid out for her. Tomoyo quite liked Rei, really, regardless of her unconventional origins; she could see several of Yui's best qualities hidden beneath the girl's quiet, stoic shyness. Even more impressive was the progress made with Mana (it didn't look like much to a casual observer, but the elder Makinami was astute enough to realize what a gigantic step it was for the girl to make towards truly healing from the myriad of issues her childhood as a soldier had left her with). What's more, Colonel Holland and the _Starshot_'s O.N.I. contingent, having already turned Kaji, were preparing to 'subvert' three more high-up NERV personnel soon enough.

Now, though, they had gathered in the Forerunner destroyer's link-portal room along with Gamma, Sigma, & Theta Teams, Wash & Tex, and the four pilots, to await some help that Uchiha-Lanstar had called in. Soon enough, the slipspace portal came to lift, a swirling blue & black vortex that was much more stable than it looked. Within seconds, a rather large group of people stepped through, all of them recognizable by the locals courtesy of the archived data: Rex & Cody, Nanoha & Fate, Hayate & the Wolkenritter, Kizuna Kawamura, Dr. Precia Testarossa, and Dr. Catherine Halsey.

"You've all been informed of the… details, I presume?" Teana asked.

"Yeah" Rex replied. "We've all been briefed."

"We've certainly got quite a bit of work set out for us" Precia remarked.

"And it's not just the Angels and… human threats" Laicixa said. "When we first arrive, there was a 'small' Extra-Planar Entity insurgence. It's not at all unlikely they'll try again at some point."

"We'll be ready" Nanoha replied. "It's why we're here, after all."

"That, and…" Ahsoka cut in, and then walked up to the pilots. "I've already told them, so now I'm telling you. I... had a precognitive vision of what's coming up next" she half-lied. "The next Angel, the Fourteenth, is gonna be an absolute _monster _in terms of power and durability. As in, it could probably take on all four of your Evas at once and come out on top. We're seriously gonna need some tremendous firepower when it shows up. We'll just have to hope that a barrage of S-rank beams of raw magical destruction can put a dent or two in it."

"So we're fighting a Super-Angel next" Asuka remarked with a deadpan tone. "Joy"

Kaji held back a smirk. The 'old' Asuka would've immediately and very loudly objected to such a comment and boasted that she could take on Zeruel by herself and look awesome doing it. Seems some of Shinji & Rei's humility and Teana's dry wit was rubbing off on her.

"Should we let the folks planetside know we're here?" Cody asked.

"Why not?" Hayate replied. "They're gonna find out anyway."

"We're gonna warn them about Zeruel, right?" Kizuna (currently clinging to Mai in a mutual hug) asked.

"We'll have to" Fate replied. "Otherwise, the losses could be catastrophic."

"They might still end up that way, judging by how nasty this thing sounds like it's gonna be" Shion remarked.

"We'd best work quickly, then" Dr. Halsey said. "The first steps should be upgrading the Evangelions – improving the pilot interface systems and giving them a power supply that won't leave them dependent on easily-severed, limited-range power cords."

"Not to mention maybe making it so we won't have to be immersed in that blood-smelling LCL crap?" Asuka asked hopefully.

"Of course."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV HQ**

**Same Day – 1340 Hours**

Ritsuko Akagi sighed, feeling a tad uneasy, as she watched a pack of Huragok examining Eva-01. The creatures had been instructed to not start any major modifications yet, for fear of the Evangelions being down for maintenance when the prophesized near-future Angel attacked. The arrival of the TSAB's heaviest hitters was a mixed blessing. On one hand, the presence of several idealistic altruists with strong connections spelled a threat to the Commander, which had the enigmatic man on edge. On the other hand, the presence of several powerful mages would surely be a boon against future Angel attacks.

Dr. Akagi, for one, felt almost superfluous due to two of the newcomers. Sure, she was the daughter of the great Naoko Akagi. She was the caretaker of the Magi supercomputer trio, and an expert in biotechnology, this world's current level of artificial intelligence, physics, and computing. But compared to the great Drs. Halsey and Testarossa, she might as well have been a neophyte still in high school (and not just because, at 29, she was young enough to be the daughter of either of them). Dr. Precia Testarossa was a brilliant physicist specializing in all things nuclear, while also being a very highly accomplished anatomist, engineer, geneticist, and xenoarcheologist. …And she, in turn, freely admitted to being inferior to Dr. Catherine Halsey, a worlds-renowned expert on medical science, artificial intelligence, xenoarcheology, mechanical engineering, and quantum physics; Halsey had, without sarcasm or irony, been dubbed one of the most intelligent humans to ever exist in the known multiverse.

Her musings were interrupted as Halsey herself walked up. "You look rather down in the dumps" the older woman said.

"I tend to suppress any little worries and concerns when I'm on the job," Ritsuko replied, "so as to deal with them later. They're all hitting me at once right now. …Things are moving too fast; I feel like I have to continuously sprint just to keep up."

"All the while worrying about what would happen if you trip and fall… I know the feeling all too well."

Ritsuko let out a long sigh. "It feels like things are going to get worse soon. I don't know why…"

Neither of them said anything for several seconds.

"Do you trust Commander Ikari?" Halsey asked, out of the blue.

Caught off-guard, Dr. Akagi nonetheless put thought into it. "…No" she finally said. "I'd like to think I do, and I've honestly tried, but… No, I do not. I just wish I really _knew _what he was planning…"

"Would you like to know?"

Ritsuko looked at the senior scientist upon hearing this. "…Do you know?"

Meanwhile, in the NERV control room, a similar conversation was going on between Comm. Cody and Misato.

"Y'know how the events of my universe have fictional counterparts in a bunch of others, including this one?" Cody said. "And how the UNSC's universe's events have a fictional counterpart in Marie & Mai's universe?"

"Yeah…" Misato replied, and then the implications set in. "Wait… Are you saying that _this _universe is a game series or movie elsewhere, too?-!"

"An animé, actually. Turns out, Agent Washington is a fan of an old series called _Neon Genesis Evangelion_. And thanks to him, we know not only a fair bit about you lot, but also about the truth behind the Evangelions, and the plans of Commander Ikari and his superiors, a shadowy organization called SEELE. We're here to prevent the original timeline's events from happening, and thus save this realm's human race from being reduced to having Shinji and Asuka be the last two living specimens on the planet."

Misato went deathly pale. "What happened?" she whispered.

"Third Impact, the instantaneous dissolution of all human beings into raw LCL, unwillingly merged into a single planet-spanning twisted hive-minded amorphous eldritch _thing_… exactly as SEELE planned."

Misato's expression went hard as stone. "Details. Now."

And so, after setting up a Vetus-Style Perception Inhibition Field (just in case, even though the few staff present were out of hearing range), he began to talk. Around half an hour later, he was finished. Misato was eerily silent and still. Then, she spoke, low and even.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Hold on now, Major" Cody said. "You can't just go off half-cocked and try to shoot him; you'd never make it. We need to be a bit more careful and subtle. Thing is, we already got a plan worked out on how to save the pilots and nail the bad guys in the arse right when they think they're in the clear. We've already brought Agent Kaji and Mari's mum on board, and as we speak Dr. Halsey and Shipmaster Arum are workin' to bring Dr. Akagi and the Sub-Commander over to our side. But we can't make any big moves yet."

Misato found a small smirk forming. "Judging by what you've told me, I think convincing Rei to start accepting her emotions and valuing herself as an individual _is _one hell of a big move." Her small grin disappeared again. "But the truth about the Evas, where they come from, what's inside them… My God…"

"We're workin' on something in that department, too. It's gonna be a while, though. Until then, we'll just have to hope that we can take out the remaining Angels without anything going catastrophic."

"And that your 'extra-planar' enemies don't jump in and fuck everything up."

Elsewhere in NERVs, two women – both of them tall, 'gifted', and quite intelligent – walked down a corridor together, immersed in conversation. Precia still had a bit of a headache; earlier that day, she had watched a documentary on Earth's "Chernobyl Disaster", to kill some time. She, being a specialist in things concerning nuclear physics and nuclear power, had been dumbstruck by the sheer amount of heinous design & safety flaws, poor management decisions, and ridiculous operator errors that had led to the catastrophe (groans, facepalms, even an "Oh, come _on_!" or two had taken place). That it brought to mind memories of her old company's mana-fusion reactor project, and how dozens of thousands of people (including Alicia) had paid the price for her superiors' greed, impatience, and disregard of safety protocols, did not help.

Tomoyo walked beside the powerful mage & gifted scientist, the knowledge given to her yesterday still fresh in her mind – the true fates of Yui and Kyōko, the existence of SEELE, the depths of Gendō's depravity (she still had trouble reconciling her memory of the man as a worthless lout with the modern reality of him as a glacier-hearted iron-fisted dictator with goals of human extinction). Colonel Holland said a plan was in motion, so in the meantime Tomoyo would do what she could to help by helping the pilots (minus her Mari, who was already perfectly mentally healthy) deal with their psychological issues, while also lending her military and command experience for when things inevitably boiled over.

The women's musings were interrupted as a figure stepped out of the elevator up ahead, catching sight of them and quickly recognizing the elder Makinami despite having not seen her in person for 11 years. Gendō and Tomoyo glared at each other with silent contempt, Precia fighting an instinctive urge to not be in the field-of-vision of either of them right now. Tomoyo, to her own shock, felt a twinge of fear as she saw past the man's sunglasses and met his eyes… his cold, lifeless eyes filled with nothing but contempt and ice-cold hatred of her, of Precia, of the pilots, of the staff, of _everyone and everything_.

Even though she'd heard and read the reports, it was at this moment when Tomoyo truly realized that Gendō Rokubungi, the sloppy, fight-happy bum who fawned after Yui, whom he hadn't been worthy to even kiss the feet of, was dead. In his place was a vile, coldly insane, omnicidal monster whose heart carried such darkness and hatred that no normal person should even be able to survive possessing. Lanstar was right; he'd gone from a worthless nobody to a nightmare in human form.

"Explain your presence in my facility, Makinami" he said in a cold, measured tone.

"I…" she could scarcely believe herself as her voice hitched, her fight-or-flight response having been triggered just by this man's presence. She straightened herself up, drawing on her anger and hate of the Commander for strength, bringing herself solely into the 'fight' half of that instinctual response. "I am accompanying Dr. Testarossa here in order to assist her with something."

"And how does that bring you to this part of my facility, which is restricted to non-NERV personnel such as yourselves?"

Precia stepped forward. "The member states of the coalition do not recognize your authority" she said in the same tone her insane past self had often used with Fate. "We need not explain ourselves to you."

Any further hostility was interrupted as warning klaxons began to blare.

"Report" Gendō and Precia radioed to the NERV Bridge and the _Starshot_'s long-range sensor monitors, respectively. And they got the same response:

"_A blue-pattern AT Field has been detected approaching the city. The Fourteenth Angel is here._"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV Bridge**

**Five Minutes Later**

The bridge crew, along with several coalition 'guests', watched the massive viewscreen and the 3D tactical map being projected beneath it; Units 00, 01, 02, and 05 were in position inside the Geofront, having been informed that Zeruel was effortlessly carving through the above-ground defenses and would undoubtedly breach the massive subterranean chamber. Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Precia, the Wolkenritter, and Teana were out as well, fully aware that Zeruel was by far the mightiest of the 'Angels'; the rest of the coalition's "heavy hitters" weren't nearly 'heavy' enough to deal any meaningful harm to the dark titan.

"Are we sure about having Dr. Testarossa participate in heavy combat?" Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki asked.

"_She may be a top-notch scientist_," Teana replied over group-comm., "_but she's also a peak-level mage. Have you forgotten the archival footage? And that showed her when she was deathly ill. Now, with her healthy and sane… it has recently been proven in tests that, though her spell repertoire is not as big, she is slightly more powerful than Reinforce._"

At hearing this, Hayate & the Wolkenritter almost dropped out of the sky from shock, with Nanoha & Fate wavering with surprise as well. The unstoppable juggernaut that was the Book of Darkness' avatar had been the hardest fight Nanoha had ever taken part in… and a healthy Precia was even _stronger_?

"It's still highly unlikely she'll be able to pierce the Angel's AT Field, though" Dr. Akagi said. "The reports from topside indicate that the Fourteenth's defensive stats are… unusually robust."

A humongous, inverted cross of purple energy punched through the 'roof' of the Geofront.

"And apparently, so is its offensive capability" Dr. Halsey remarked. "Reports indicated it was rapid-firing blasts like that a few minutes ago."

Asuka voiced everyone's thoughts: "_This is gonna suck, isn't it?_"

"_Yep_" Shinji replied.

Seconds later, Zeruel leisurely floated down through the newly-created hole. It was huge, at least half again as tall as an Evangelion, with a stocky body and a vaguely avian skull-mask for a face. A huge Core was in the center of its chest, and odd white structures that seemed to serve as arms hung loose from its shoulders.

"Everyone, five rounds rapid!" Hayate shouted.

Eva-02 opened fire with dual-wielded heavy rocket launchers. Units 00 and 01 followed suit with their burst-fire rifles, Unit-05 fired its Eva-scaled assault rifle, and the mages unleashed an utterly massive combined wave of magical projectiles/bolts. A vibrant orange semitransparent energy field enveloped the Angel, effortlessly shrugging off everything thrown at it.

"Cease fire!" Hayate commanded after about 25 seconds of continuous attacking. "It's obvious conventional attacks won't break the shield."

Zeruel hovered still, looking at its annoying adversaries. Then, its arms unfolded. In the command center, Agent Washington, noticing where the Angel was looking, shouted into the comm. "Rei! Move! _Now_!"

For her part, Rei did not hesitate or question. She immediately threw her Evangelion to the side… dodging by tenths of a second the cutting strike aimed at where her Eva's neck had been a moment before. The Fourteenth's arms had speared out with considerable speed, and one of them hit a patch of trees on a hill behind where Unit-00 had been standing, cutting clean through their thick, sturdy trunks like they weren't even there.

Zeruel's arms retracted, and then each one split into two.

"Of course, it has four arms" Asuka deadpanned. "Why wouldn't it?"

Nanoha said nothing, silently observing the eldritch titan. Thanks to Raising Heart, she had a ballpark estimate of exactly how much force the heroes' opening barrage had carried, and of how little it had drained the Angel's AT Field. They were gonna need some bigger guns. She sliced her thumbtip open on a canine tooth, and formed a hand-seal sequence.

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

A massive plume of 'smoke' formed, and then suddenly dispersed. Even having seen it happen several times in the video data archives, it was still a shock to see, in person, the sudden appearance of a humongous red toad wearing a dark blue vest, with a pipe sticking out of its mouth, and wielding a giant _tantō _in its right hand. Huge eyes opened as Nanoha finished telepathically filling him in.

"THIS'LL BE A TOUGH FIGHT EVEN FOR ME" Gamabunta said. "THE POWER I'M SENSING FROM THIS THING IS MASSIVE. IT'LL BE LIKE FIGHTING A TAILED BEAST, ALMOST."

Nanoha started to say something, but was cut off as Gamabunta suddenly leapt to the right, dodging an eye-laser blast from Zeruel. The four Evangelions rushed forward, extending their AT Fields to cancel out Zeruel's… and failing.

"What the hell's going on?" Mari shouted. "Why is its Field still up?"

"I don't believe this…" Ritsuko said. "The Angel's AT Field is so powerful that even with _four _opposing Fields at 120 meters distance, it's still at 30% strength!"

A double Plasma Smasher from the Testarossa mother/daughter pair lanced out, twin beams of raw magical energy crashing against Zeruel's AT Field. This was followed by Divine Busters from Nanoha and Teana, and Eva-scale rocket fire from Unit-02. The AT Field failed, and Signum promptly lined up and fired a _Sturmfalke _at the titan's Core… and watched as a physical shield snapped into place over the giant red gem, protecting it and coming out unscathed. Zeruel then loosed an AT pulse that knocked everyone back, and then Precia and Signum barely avoided being hit dead-on by a pair of Cross Blasts. The beast's Field rapidly returned to full, like the recharging of powered armor's energy shields.

"How much is it gonna take to kill that thing?" Teana wondered aloud. "Its defensive field is absurd. What kinda firepower would it take?"

"By analyzing the entity's protective field and its physical form," Cross Mirage reported, "I have calculated the amount of force necessary to terminate it."

"How much?" Shinji asked over TEAMCOM.

"With its Absolute Territory Field at full, target designate Zeruel would be able to survive any blast of less than 35 megaton yield."

Everyone listening in went pale. "So you're saying…" Asuka said "that with its AT Field, this thing would take a fucking _Capital Crusher _to kill?"

"Yes" the AI replied.

"Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way, then" Hayate said.

"Well," Mari said, "the closer we are, the more our AT Fields affect the Angel's, right? So, if we can stay close in…"

Zeruel slowly floated forward, its four sharp arms wavering breezily… and then it shot forward with considerable speed. Asuka let out a quick curse in German as Unit-02 ducked and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding dismemberment. She drew her Eva's knife and lashed out, only for it to glance off the Angel's thick armored hide with a burst of sparks. The creature promptly backhanded 02, sending it tumbling, and then fired an eye-beam shot at Unit-01, who ducked underneath the shot. Unit-05 charged in, arm-drill spinning, and began trying to pierce Zeruel's AT Field and score a hit on its Core. Unit-00 rushed in, firing bursts from its rifle at the Angel's face. Mari's drill had now breached the Field, and was trying to grind through the durable snap-shut shield now protecting the Core.

Suddenly, Rei noticed a building light in Zeruel's eyes, and yanked Unit-05 out of the way, a point-blank Cross Blast barely missing the two Evangelions, detonating against the Geofront's far wall. Before Zeruel's AT Field could reestablish itself, however, Gamabunta shot past, his sword severing one of the Fourteenth's two right arms. As the Evangelions leapt away, the Toad Chief then expelled a focused stream of oil he'd built up in his mouth… simultaneous with a Fire _jutsu _from Nanoha, perched atop his head:

"_Katon: Gamayu Endan_!"

The truly humongous ball of flame engulfed Zeruel, the feeding stream of flame continuing for several seconds. Plants within 100 meters of the fireball's perimeter spontaneously combusted from the heat. After several seconds, the fire faded, replaced by a massive cloud of smoke. Acting on instinct, Gamabunta leapt high, dodging the slightly-scorched cutting limb that shot out from within the cloud. The smoke cleared to reveal the Fourteenth Angel, its hide somewhat singed in places, a few small scorch marks, but otherwise unharmed. And angry.

"Why am I not surprised that didn't work?" Shinji thought aloud.

Unit-02 came in from above, vibro-axe in hand, and struck at Zeruel's left arms. The Angel turned at the last moment, and the axe head hit instead its heavily armored shoulder, cutting a relatively narrow groove. A retaliatory AT Pulse smacked into 02 like a sledgehammer, sending it flying. Speaking of which, a hammer was exactly what then hit Zeruel in the face, Vita's _Gigant Crusher _attack knocking the titan back several dozen meters. A Divine Buster from Teana and a Trident Smasher from Fate followed suit, hitting the Angel while it was stunned, though to not much effect. A barrage of rifle fire from Units 00 & 05 and Photon Lancer Phalanx Shift shots from Fate targeted Zeruel's Core, only for that damnable shield to snap into place again.

"Everyone, be ready to get clear" Precia said over the TEAMCOM. "I'm going to hit this thing with the strongest spell I have. Give me a bit of time to charge it."

Unit-01 answered the call, knife in hand and lashing out at Zeruel's face. The Angel responded with an eye-beam blast that shattered the weapon into a million melting pieces and came within inches of blowing Unit-01's hand off. A _Sturmfalke _from Signum detonated against the Fourteenth's face, and then a trio of _Suiton: Teppodama _shots from Gamabunta smashed into its torso, one hitting right next to the Core. The Toad Chief then rushed in to aid Unit-01 in engaging Zeruel in close combat, keeping it busy.

After about 50 seconds of close-in mayhem, both leapt away… just as the air around Zeruel began to crackle. High above, toward the top of the Geofront, Precia hovered over a massive, purple Midchildan-style magic rune-circle. The gem core of Hrist flickered with power, and she raised the staff high, like a hammer being readied for an overhead downward swing.

"Vanish with the thunderclap…" she murmured. And then she swung the staff down: "_Storm Smasher!-!_"

A humongous torrent of violet lightning bolts struck Zeruel from all directions, superheating the air and glassing the ground. Everyone had to shield their eyes lest they be blinded; inside the control room, several of the external feeds shorted out into static. The claps of thunder from each bolt combined into a seemingly-endless, deafening roar. The attack continued for several seconds, hundreds of bolts of lightning striking to form a continuous barrage of lethal power.

Finally, the attack ceased. Precia hovered, panting for breath, as she observed the scene below. A roiling cloud of smoke and dust slowly faded, to reveal Zeruel, still standing – er, hovering – but very much worse for wear. Chunks had been blown/burned off of it in several places, both of its left arms and the end of its remaining right arm were gone, its skull-mask was cracked and scorched, and its Core flickered.

"How is it still intact?" Precia said, shocked. "That attack was powerful enough to irreparably wreck a TSAB _Striker_-class destroyer…"

Zeruel hovered in place, hunched over slightly… and then it let out a deafening roar. Its slowly-dimming Core suddenly flared brightly, a baleful red light shining forth. The Angel's entire body began to glow, becoming an un-detailed white mass with glowing red eyes, just like Adam back during Second Impact. Its form shifted and grew, taking new shape. The light slowly faded, to reveal just how drastically Zeruel had changed. It was now a little around 2.5 times the size of an Evangelion, its torso now a vaguely arthropodic shape, a set of jagged ribs near-totally encircling the now-larger Core, and eight wide arms dark-gray on the outside and dark-red on the inside, splayed out like a spider's, in place of its original four narrow white ones. Its skull-mask had changed somewhat, and its back was a dark gray, looking like a cape that its arms were a part of.

"T-Target's power level has increased…" a white-faced Maya reported. "Massively."

"THIS THING…" Gamabunta said, his tone grave. "IT'S AS POWERFUL AS THE 8-TAILS NOW."

For several seconds, nobody moved or said anything, except for Teana murmuring "Out of the frying pan, into the shit…" over the TEAMCOM. Then, Zeruel slowly turned its head to look at Unit-01… and, with a voice like a Reaper's, it spoke:

"**BURN.**"

And Unit-01 was at the epicenter of a Cross Blast that reached clear to the Geofront's ceiling.

"Shinji-kun!" "Kid!" "_Shinji!-!_"

The Commander did not pay mind to how the loudest, most emotional and distressed call, the one without honorifics, had come from Rei. All he could think about was seeing the Unit that held his Yui topple over when the light faded, armor smoldering and missing in several places to expose burnt and damaged flesh, eyes dark, landing with a thud face-first, and going still. The mightiest of the Evangelions had just been one-shotted.

"**LILITH'S SHADOW FALLS.**"

The dark titan then looked outward, surveying the remaining three Evangelions.

"**THE FATHER'S SHADOWS SHALL FALL.**"

"…This is about to become a total clusterfuck" Vita said.

Asuka didn't fully understand why seeing Shinji struck down filled her with such raw, hateful rage. All she knew now was that the Fourteenth Angel _needed to die_. With a war-cry she rushed forward, prog-axe in hand, ducking under a slicing limb that went for her neck and then lashing out, swinging the axe-head at the titan's face… and watching it bounce off with a 'clang'.

"**CHILD OF LILITH, MERGED WITH A SHADOW OF THE FATHER… **_**DISGUSTING**_**.**"

And Zeruel's two primary arms, coiled up like springs, lanced out, smacking into Evangelion-02 with enough blunt force to crack the chestpiece, sending it flying hundreds of meters back, to land in a heap.

"**LIMITED CREATURES OF BLOOD AND FLESH, INCAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING THE FORCES ARRAYED AGAINST YOU…**"

"What did we humans ever do to warrant what your kind has done to us?" Fate shouted. "What are we doing that you see as being so wrong?"

"…**YOU EXIST**" Zeruel replied. "**THIS WORLD MUST BE PURGED. LILITH AND ALL HER CHILDREN MUST DIE.**"

"Children of… Lilith?" Maya asked, in the control room.

"Adam's equal and opposite" Agent Washington, standing next to her, replied. "Though it is not true for other realms, in _this _realm she is the progenitor of all life on this planet, including humanity. …You're her equivalent to the Angels."

"Then that means…" Maya started.

"That the Angels seek to annihilate every single non-Angel life-form on the entire planet" Misato finished. "Right down to single-celled organisms. _That's _the Third Impact they seek to bring about. They don't want resources. They don't want territory. They want everything everywhere to die."

"_Karyū Issen_!"

Signum's attack left a trail of flame across Zeruel's upper body, barely missing the Core. Divine Busters from Nanoha and Teana aimed at its Core, only for the rib-like protrusions to shift and flow in ways that solid matter shouldn't be able to, quickly shielding the red gem. An AT Pulse then knocked the three mages away.

Then everyone took notice of the flare of magical energy coming from near one of the hatches leading to the interior of NERV Base. They looked, and saw little Caro, standing in the middle of a bright pink rune… and in front of a _huge _summoning rune that glowed ever brighter. NERV's scanners picked up the dimensional gateway as a tremendous, humanoid figure rose up, spiked tail stretching out and four massive wings unfurling. Voltaire's eyes opened, and he immediately focused on Zeruel.

The Fourteenth Angel fired an eye-beam burst, only for Voltaire to raise a hand and summon a bright red magical rune-shield, deflecting the attack with ease. The lord of dragons then fired a hyper-concentrated 'beam' of white-hot Dragonfire from his palm, crashing against Zeruel's hastily-thrown-up AT Shield. Voltaire then charged forward; as he ran, he conjured a mass of White Dragonfire in his hands and shaped it, and it transformed into a massive sword. He swung down, and there was a loud *clang* as two of Zeruel's right arms caught it, trying to fend off the force of the Dragon Lord pressing the blade downward and trying to break the Fourteenth's defense. The 'Angel' responded by lashing out with its other six limbs, forcing Voltaire to break off.

Unit-05 and Gamabunta moved in next, drill and sword striking at Zeruel's arms. Distracted by them, Zeruel was then struck in the chest by an axe strike from Unit-02, which was damaged but still quite able to fight. The strike hit the Core dead-on, leaving a barely-perceptible wound. As she wound up to strike again, however, Zeruel reacted with great violence. Mari's Evangelion and the Toad Chief were backhanded hard, knocking them back and over. A limb then pinned each of them to the ground, constricting around their throats. Asuka then found herself slammed into a hillside, her axe sent flying off to the side. The Angel's two primary limbs then pinned her to the hill, as light gathered in Zeruel's eyes. Unit-00 and Voltaire immediately rushed in, only for Zeruel's remaining two limbs to slam them into the ground and grab hold of their throats, pinning them down. The mages immediately unloaded everything they could on Zeruel, only to find their attacks being stopped by its powerful AT Field.

"Asuka! Eject!" Misato shouted.

"I can't!" the redhead cried. "My Eva's back is pinned against the ground; my Plug can't eject!"

There was a bright flash of Zeruel unleashed a point-blank full-power Baleful Gaze, briefly engulfing Unit-02 in terrible light. When it faded, the Eva's torso armor was gone, bluish-purple blood being shed, the Eva's Core exposed and flickering.

"We're not getting any signals from the plug or the Eva!" Lt. Hyūga reported. "Unit-02 appears to have gone totally silent!"

"Damn it…" Misato was clenching her eyes shut. "Damn it! First Shinji, now Asuka… How the fuck are we supposed to stop this thing?-!"

Inside Unit-02's now-dark Entry Plug, Asuka sat, curled up, biting back whimpers from the phantom pain still coursing through her body due to her synchronization. She'd failed. The 'Invincible Shinji' was down for the count, and now so was she. Her beautiful Unit-02 was out of power and heavily damaged. The others outside were helpless. It was dark and cold.

"In the end, I…" she spoke softly to herself, voice wavering. "I'm just a big fuck-up after all, aren't I?"

Somehow, a lone holoscreen came back online, the screen filled with Zeruel's form towering over her, his face staring down at her. But her Eva was, for all intents and purposes, completely helpless. All she could do was watch as Zeruel's eyes began to glow again, the glow slowly intensifying. For the first time in years, Asuka felt nothing but despair and terror.

"I don't wanna die…" she whimpered.

The glow continued to brighten.

"Please… Somebody help me…"

Zeruel leaned back slightly, focusing his gaze on Unit-02's Core.

"Teana… Shinji… _Mama_!"

A heartbeat.

Zeruel's Baleful Gaze attack lanced out… and was harmlessly reflected by the extremely powerful AT Field that suddenly appeared. Everyone watched in silent awe as Unit-02's four eyes glowed a bright green, as an inhuman growl issued from within it. In one motion, it brought a leg up and kicked Zeruel square in the chest, sending it back and knocking the four captives out of its grip. Unit-02 lurched forward and up, taking a primal stance on two legs, arms hanging low. The plating on its lower head came loose, opening up to reveal a mouth filled with huge, thick, curved fangs like a _Tyrannosaurus_'. The armor on its fingers broke away, revealing large, sharp claws. And then it looked at Zeruel and roared.

"Synchronization at 320%" Shigeru commented, trying desperately to keep his voice level. "Unit-02 has… entered Berserk Mode."

"Unit-01 is reactivating!" Hyūga suddenly shouted. "Synch ratio 315%!"

Indeed, the damaged purple Evangelion was slowly getting to its feet, its eye-ports glowing brightly. Its jaw-plates separated, revealing a human-like structure except for a pair of wicked-looking canine teeth. Its roar sounded out seconds later, as if answering and acknowledging the other Berserker's.

"T… Two Berserk Evangelions…" Ritsuko murmured, shocked senseless by what she was seeing. "_Two_…"

The two risen Evas looked to each other, exchanging intent through a glance, and then nodded. They turned their attention back to the mighty 'Angel' and stepped forward. They took a few slow, careful steps… and then simultaneously broke into full-speed charges, rushing at Zeruel with incredible speed. The Fourteenth felt a flash of panic, and immediately rapid-fired his Baleful Gaze at the two of them, only for their AT Fields – which were now reinforcing each other – to easily deflect the blasts. They closed in rather quickly, moving in harmony. Each of them caught the decapitating strike sent their way, grabbing hold of the limbs and then yanking hard, pulling Zeruel into a devastating double-punch that actually formed a small fracture on his skull-mask. With their AT Fields now focusing into their arms, they then gripped the two limbs and, with a herculean effort, tore them off.

Zeruel fell back, letting out a screeching roar as he pulled his four remaining limbs close. Beyond furious, he fired a Cross Blast, only for the two Evangelions to leap to either side, the pillar of light-purple energy shooting up from the spot between where they'd been standing. Before he could do anything else, Voltaire charged in, Dragonfire Blade clashing against one of Zeruel's remaining limbs. Then Gamabunta leapt atop the dark titan, stabbing his _tantō _down at the Angel's face. With effort, Zeruel launched them both back, and they landed on their feet beside the two Berserkers – Gamabunta by 01, Voltaire by 02. Unit 00, wielding an Evangelion-scale semi-automatic sniper rifle, stepped up beside the Purple Berserker and the Toad Chief, while 05, carrying a super-sized gatling gun, took its place amongst the Red Berserker and the Dragon Lord. Nanoha, Vita, and Teana hovered near 01, while Fate, Precia, and Signum took position near 02, and Hayate hovered in-between them; every one of the mages was charging heavy-duty magic.

(ASS-KICKING MUSIC: _Battleship OST _– "Super Battle")

"Guys…" Mana said in the Control Room. "I think we're about to witness the awesomest awesome to ever awesome."

"Awesomely" Marie added.

Inside Unit-05's cockpit, Mari grinned as she spun the gatling gun up. "Let's drop some lead on this mother-"

"_Fire!-!_" Hayate commanded.

A thunderous cacophony of firepower sounded out as Unit-05 opened up with its BFG and Unit-00 started plugging away with its sniper rifle (which, due to size and caliber, basically sounded like a battleship's heavy cannon). Large blasts of pink, orange, gold, purple, and white magical energy lanced out, 'beams' of White Dragonfire shot forth from Voltaire's hands, mouth, and wingtips, and concussive water cannon-shots from Gamabunta crashed against Zeruel's hide. Units 01 and 02 went wide, going around the heavy barrage and aiming to catch Zeruel in a pincer attack.

Zeruel roared in fury as, weakened by the two berserk Evangelions' super-strength AT Fields, he was subjected to the full brunt of the attacks; his Core-cage shifted form to cover the now-vulnerable gem. Gamabunta rushed in, sword readied, but as he got close he launched a feint and tossed his weapon to Unit-01, who caught it and quickly used it to slice off the left limb of Zeruel that had just missed Gamabunta by a few meters. Unit-02 clamped its jaws onto one of Zeruel's two right arms, huge serrated fangs quickly tearing through the appendage and severing it. The two angry Evangelions then reached around and grabbed hold of the locked-shut Core shield, and with a yank they ripped the bony plating free, leaving Zeruel's Core defenseless.

A massive AT Pulse knocked them away from the dark titan. "**I SHALL RIP YOU ALL APART, ATOM BY ATOM!**" he roared.

He was about to fire a Cross Blast at Gamabunta, only for Vita to uppercut him with a Gigant Crusher, sending the blast flying harmlessly upwards, blasting yet another hole in the Geofront's roof; Unit-01 then roundhouse-kicked the 'Angel' hard enough to form another crack on its skull-mask. As Voltaire rushed in and locked blades with the Fourteenth again, Nanoha took position high and back, gathering power. Unit-00 ran in, knife in hand, and struck at Zeruel's remaining left arm, wounding but not managing to sever it. Fire from Unit-05's gatling gun shredded the end of the Angel's right arm, which was then stunned as Precia's electrical attack coursed through it. A _Katon: Gōenkyū _from Teana smashed into Zeruel's face, knocking the Angel back slightly, and a _Sturmfalke _from Signum shattered what was left of the Core's bony shield.

"_Zenryoku zenkai_! STARLIGHT BREAKER!-!"

The large, vibrant Pink Beam of Death shot out, pushing against a last-ditch AT Shield floating directly in front of Zeruel's Core. As Gamabunta severed the distracted Angel's left arm, and Fate used a Jet Zanbar attack to do the same on the right, Units 01 and 02 focused their AT Fields into the left and right fists, respectively, and then punched forward, unleashing a single tightly-focused shot of power.

The three attacks were more than enough. The AT Shield shattered, and the combined attack punched through Zeruel's Core and out his back, a pink beam enveloped in orange AT energy rings. Zeruel let out a final echoing roar that rapidly faded away, as his eyes went dark. The mighty titan toppled to the ground, his body dissolving away into nothingness as he fell. The Angel of Might was no more; the battle was won.

Units 01 and 02 promptly shut down, starting to drop like puppets with their strings cut, only to be caught and held up by Units 00 and 05. Inside the NERV Bridge, cheers rang out.

"Well, that was fun" Teana remarked. "Who's up for Chinese?"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV Hospital Bay**

**Four Hours Later**

'Wow…' Asuka thought as she opened her eyes. 'Shinji was right: that is one damn ugly ceiling.'

She sat up carefully, looking around at the dull room. She noticed that her surroundings looked a bit more… detailed than normal. Writing it off as some Eva thing, she was about to lean back down when the door opened.

"Yo" Teana said. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Asu…ka…" she trailed off, her eyes widening.

"What?" Asuka asked. "What is it?"

Teana's _Sharingan _spun to life, making sure that she wasn't seeing some illusion, as she looked at Asuka's now-crimson eyes with two comma marks in each.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Now that was a big'un. Next time: Truths and the Great Enemy.


	6. Awaken

_Halo 4_ scene reference incoming!

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**NERV – Hospital Wing**

**September 26, 2015 – 1950 Hours**

"What?" Asuka asked. "Why are you staring at me like that, _nee-san_?"

"Asuka…" Teana said slowly. "Grab that mirror on your bedside table and look at it."

Asuka's face bore a flash of panic. "W-What? What's wrong? Did the battle leave some hideous scar on me? It did, didn't it?" she started rambling in German.

"Asuka! Chill! It's nothing bad!"

With trembling hands, Asuka picked up the handheld mirror and looked at her reflection… and gasped as she saw her eyes' now-crimson irises, each bearing two comma-shaped marks. She couldn't presently articulate anything in response.

"You must have awakened it during the fight against Zeruel" Teana said. "The _Sharingan _generally awakens during times of duress, life-or-death situations, so yours probably emerged around the same time your Eva went berserk."

The younger redhead's attention instantly returned to her older third-cousin. "Wait, what? My Unit-02 did what?-!"

Teana projected from Mirage holo-recordings starting from Unit-02's 'awakening' and going to the battle's end. Asuka was even more speechless. After nearly a minute, she gathered her wits. "M-My… My Unit-02… It bled… It h-had teeth… And Unit-01 did too… And t-they had Angel Cores… What in the name of…"

"The Evangelions aren't machines, Asuka" Teana said as she sat on the bed. "They're living, organic beings infused with cybernetic components and encased head to toe in heavy armor. …Units 00, 02, and 05 were created using the bio-genetic data of Adam, the Angel Progenitor; Unit-01 was made from Lilith. Fight fire with fire…"

"Fight Angels with… A-Angels… _Mein Gott_…"

"Thankfully, there is no trace of Adam's imprinted command in any of the three Adam-derived Evangelions, so there's no chance of them turning on us. In truth, Unit-02 was operating under a single goal: protect you, and kill the thing that had harmed you. Its rage was that of a parent defending its child from a predator, just as Unit-01's was the few times it's gone berserk. The Evas see their pilots as offspring, and if need be will fight to the death to protect you kids from any perceived threat, regardless of the odds."

Asuka closed her eyes as she let the idea sink in. It just might explain that faint warm & fuzzy feeling she got once in a while when in her Eva's cockpit. She turned to face her relative. "What now?" she asked.

Teana smiled. "I teach you how to use those eyes of yours" she replied. "Time to learn the basics of chakra usage, kiddo."

In the next room over, Mari was finishing showing Shinji the recordings of the battle, and explaining to him what Lanstar had told her about the Evas.

"Now," the busty teen said, "before we do anything more, there's something I need to give you."

"What?" the boy asked.

She gave a near-predatory grin as she removed her glasses and climbed up on the bed, crawling up to him, getting in his face. "Victory kiss"

"…Victory k-Mmph!"

Mari moved forward, capturing Shinji's lips with her own, her arms going around him and pulling him close, straddling his lap, one hand on the back of his head and the other between his shoulder blades, pressing her considerable assets against his chest. Naturally submissive, he closed his eyes and leaned into her sudden embrace, quickly deciding that he liked this new feeling, and he held her back. He let her tilt his head back a little to deepen the kiss, and let out a surprised squeak as he felt her tongue slipping into his mouth. After nearly a minute, they broke contact, both of them panting for breath.

"You're such a good, pure, kind, sweetheart of a boy" she said quietly with a warm smile. "It's no wonder four different girls have fallen in love with you."

This phrase caused Shinji's dazed brain to quickly reboot. "Huh what? …F-Four girls?"

"Mm-hm" Mari nodded. "And I've been making good progress on convincing the other three to admit their feelings, and to share you. You've certainly got a big enough heart, enough love for four girls with probably more to spare. You've been lonely for way too long, but with us you'll never have that terrible, painful loneliness again. …I want to be one of the girls who'll be by your side forever, Shinji."

Although he was a little scared, hearing this also made him feel comfortably warm inside, as he looked – really _looked _– at the sensual beauty who still embraced him, focusing fully on the sight of her smiling face, the sensation of her soft, warm body against his. And then, after several seconds, he made his feelings on the matter known in an uncharacteristically bold fashion by kissing her again; she gave a happy little moan as she reciprocated.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV – Evangelion 'Cages'**

**September 27, 2015 – 0950 Hours**

NERV technicians and Huragok worked frantically to repair the heavily-damaged Units 01 and 02, never knowing when the next Angel attack could come. Unbeknownst to them, Teana presently sat within Unit-02's cockpit, eyes closed in meditation. Cross Mirage used her neural interface implant to simulate the synchronization effects of the pilots' A-10 clips, and she extended her consciousness, seeking the mind that slept within this technorganic titan.

All noise, all sensation, faded. Teana opened her eyes, and found herself standing in a light-grey void. Standing right in front of her was a woman a little taller than her, with mid-back-length red hair and blue eyes, staring at her with more than a little confusion. Teana gave a warm smile and activated her _Sharingan_, switching to her three-overlapping-ripples _Mangekyō_. The woman reacted with surprise and recognition, as her eyes shifted as well, her _Mangekyō _– three hypnotic-looking swirls extending from a central black dot – looking back.

(AN: Kyōko's _Mangekyō_: Deviant-Art – Artist 'jinseiasakura', "Mangekyou Sharingan 3rd Set", Center Left ("Hypnotic"))

Through their matched gazes and the synchronization link, Teana and Kyōko silently exchanged information. Then, the disembodied mother gave a warm smile and gently laid her hand atop Teana's head.

In another blank void, Yui Ikari stared at the floating, pink-and-purple, six-eyed, many-tentacled creature that had somehow made mental contact with her. The Huragok trilled and tilted its head, slowly swinging back & forth through the air. Yui was utterly perplexed by this thing, though at least it seemed non-hostile. She suddenly heard a noise to her right, and looked as a pillar of bluish-purple light formed, an individual in another universe projecting an avatar and extending her consciousness, despite her actual Riemann Matrix still being aboard the _Infinity _a few realms away.

"Hello, Dr. Ikari" Cortana said. "There are some things I need to fill you in on."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Groundside Base**

**September 27, 2015 – 1140 Hours**

Rei sat on the rather comfy couch in the base's common room. She felt fear and apprehension and… nervousness, she believed it was called. She was about to take a tremendous risk. She looked around at the few other occupants in the room – Shinji, Mari, Mana, and even Asuka looking at her with curiosity and concern. She'd called them here, saying she had something very important to tell them. She took a deep breath.

"I…" she struggled out, feeling more afraid than ever before in her life. "I am going to tell you four where I came from – what I am."

The quartet focused intently on her, eager to learn (well, Mana actually already knew and still accepted Rei, but she had to play along and pretend she didn't know for now).

"I am… not entirely human. I was not born; I was created in a laboratory. The human half of my genetic code… came from Yui Ikari, albeit altered somewhat. My non-human half is from Lilith, the progenitor of all non-Angel life on this planet."

The other three pilots were, as expected, stunned speechless.

"Y-You're…" Shinji whispered out. "A clone of my mom…?"

"S-She said 'altered'" Mari replied. "And I think her Lilith portion cancels out any 'incest' factor caused by her Yui portion – if you look for the midpoint between one-half and one-six-billionth, you still end up with a pretty damn small number."

"Correct" Rei said. "Due to carrying the genetic structure of the forbearer of humanity, I am no more genetically similar to you than any random stranger off the street, Ikari-kun. …Plus, I'm infertile anyway, so…"

"Who created you?" Asuka asked. "And why?"

"The Commander created me, with the assistance of Dr. Akagi's mother. I… cannot yet tell you why I was made. …In one of the lowest levels of NERV's headquarters, there is a chamber containing soulless clone bodies of… me. Every so often, I have to be subjected to a detailed scan of my neural network, which catalogues and copies the data. If I ever die, my soul, rather than passing on to The Beyond, is grabbed hold and transferred into a new body, with the memory copy 'downloaded' into the body's brain. …I am the second Rei; the first Rei was murdered six years ago by a temporarily-insane Dr. Naoko Akagi, who then promptly committed suicide once she realized what she had done."

She hunched forward, a light shudder racing along her body. The way her eyes were squeezed shut, and the subtle unsteadiness in her vocal tone, hinted to just how upset she really was. "I am a human-form monster; a… freak. I… I'm caught in the role of a disposable pawn in a dark game, and unable to die to escape. My time with you three has gradually begun to convince me that… maybe the purpose that the Commander has set out for me is… not the right choice. But… m-more than that… When I think about following the path laid out for me, which would entail… leaving you… I…"

A single tear fell from her closed eyes.

"I don't _want _to!" she spoke with more emotion than ever before. "You three have taught me how to think for myself, how to _live _for myself, how to _feel_. I don't want to lose that! Ika… Shinji… Asuka… Mari… Mana… I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore… I don't know who or what I _am _anymore… I'm scared. W-Why does this hurt? This pain, this fear, has been building up inside me for a while now, and I still don't fully understand what it is or what it's here. I just… I…"

As the last remnants of her old perception of 'Wondergirl' finally faded away with this emotional display, Asuka became the first of the group to give the distraught girl a hug. Mari, Shinji, and Mana quickly followed. Rei bore an expression of shock, her eyes still moist.

"It hurts because we're your friends" Mari replied. "And because we're your friends, you don't have to worry about all that stuff, because we won't leave you."

"My… f-friends?" she said in a wavering, unsure tone.

"Jeez, you're denser than Shinji-_baka _if you hadn't figured that out already" Asuka said.

"We won't let that asshole do what he will with you" Mana said.

"I'll take on all of NERV by myself to protect you if I have to" Shinji said with unusual conviction.

"Which you wouldn't have to because we'd be charging in beside you" Asuka replied.

They stayed like that for a little while until Rei calmed down. The gentle mood was spoiled by Mana and Asuka's stomachs making their emptiness audibly known.

"I'd say it's time for lunch" Mari said.

As the group got up and made their way out to hunt down some food, Rei held back. Shinji stopped and turned to her.

"Aya… Rei-san? What's wrong?"

"Shinji-kun… Forgive me if this is too forward of me…"

She walked up to him, reached out and grabbed hold of his hands, entwining her fingers with his, and then she kissed him. Shinji was left in mild shock at being kissed by the second pretty girl within 18 hours, and at realizing that Rei was almost-certainly another of the four girls 'out for him', but he quickly found himself kissing back. After about a minute Rei pulled away, a small smile and a bright blush on her face, which were both mirrored on Shinji's. She nodded and then led him by the hand out the door, following the others.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV Headquarters**

**September 28, 2015 – 1440 Hours**

Asuka and Shinji felt a tad nervous. They found themselves seated together in a small, out-of-the-way room, as Agent Washington carefully went all over the immediate area, searching for listening devices of any kind. Supposedly, he was about to tell them something big, and he didn't want the Commander knowing he was telling them. Finally, the ex-Freelancer seemed satisfied.

"All right…" he said with a sigh as he sat in a chair across from the two pilots. "We've already told a handful of others. Now I believe it's time to tell you two everything: what the Evangelions are for, what Commander Ikari is planning… and what really happened to your mothers."

The two looked shocked and surprised, though Asuka was also a little suspicious. "How would you know that?" she asked.

"…You know how my universe's events were works of fiction in Marie's universe?" He pulled up a holoscreen showing something that left the two pilots dumbstruck: a movie-style poster showing various familiar individuals, with Unit-01 looming overhead.

"It was a show called _Neon Genesis Evangelion_" he said. "In my universe, it ran from 1995 to 1997. Presently, my realm's at 2553, so the series has kinda faded into semi-obscurity. I found after Project Freelancer's fall, when I was trying to track down The Director. And thanks to this knowledge, I've been able to set up a plot with the higher-ups and the four Teams to save this Earth and its people from utter devastation."

The two teens leaned forward slightly, in rapt attention.

"There is a secretive and powerful ancient organization that calls itself SEELE, led by a High Council of 12, the leader of which is an evil old man named Kihl Lorenz. Their plan is to bring about their own form of Third Impact, in order to forcefully undo the boundaries that separate individual humans to each other, reducing humanity to a single, amorphous, eldritch combined being that spans the planet, with no individuality – a global hive mind composed of over two billion souls… nearly all of them dragged into it unwillingly. Commander Ikari is working with them to achieve this… only he has a different end goal in mind: hijacking Third Impact from SEELE and using it to reunite with Yui Ikari, with all souls consumed and absorbed by Lilith. He doesn't care that this will consign all of humanity to, essentially, death – he's not only willing to render the human race extinct to see her again, he's _planning _to, and has been planning to for years. Everyone at NERV – even you two – are disposable pawns to him in his quest to be reunited with her."

The two teens were pale and horrified. "…Insane…" Asuka muttered. "He's completely fucking insane…"

"Rei is an integral part of his plan. He would use her to interface with and gain control of Lilith, who is presently kept in a dormant state in the lowest accessible part of the Geofront, and use her power to undo the forces that keep humans physically together, reducing every person to a mass of LCL and a disembodied soul which would then be merged into the Collective. …But thanks to you guys, Rei is coming to question this path. Because of you, she's come to value herself as an individual, which is a _huge _wrench thrown into Gendō's plans. That alone might be enough to foil his and SEELE's plans… but we're doing what we can to screw them up further, just in case."

"…So Wondergirl was literally made to end the world, but thanks to us she no longer wants to…?" Asuka thought aloud.

"Yep" Wash replied. "Seems that way"

Shinji buried his face in his hands. "Damn you, father…" he whispered, his tone unsteady. "All this time… All my effort… The things you said…"

"We've already convinced Agent Kaji, Major Katsuragi, ex-Major Makinami, Dr. Akagi, and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki to help us sabotage the Commander and SEELE's plans. …Now, under our clandestine protection, Fuyutsuki likely won't end up kidnapped by SEELE, which means Kaji won't have to rescue him, and thus SEELE won't have Kaji assassinated in retaliation, and in turn Misato won't become an emotional wreck and allow herself to be gunned down by the SEELE soldiers trying to kill Shinji while Asuka and Eva-02 are brutally ripped into bloody chunks by the SEELE-controlled Mass-Production Evas…"

"_Gott in Himmel_…" Asuka murmured.

"H… How do our mothers factor into this?" Shinji asked.

Washington went quiet for a few seconds. "You recall the details of Yui Ikari's death?"

"Y-Yes… Ripped into her constituent atoms…"

"It happened during the first ever activation test with Unit-01. And her soul didn't pass on to The Beyond when it happened. …A few months after that, Kyōko Sōryū suffered her own 'incident' during Unit-02's first activation test. Shinji… Asuka… Your mothers' souls were imprisoned within your Evas' Cores."

They nearly passed out right there. As the implications set in, Shinji began trembling heavily, hands clutching his head, while Asuka curled up in the fetal position, eyes wide but seeing nothing, muttering 'Oh God, Oh God, Oh God…'. They both somehow _knew _that Wash was telling the truth. They'd felt the faint presences whenever they synched, which they couldn't identify but which felt oddly warm, comforting, and familiar. Now the puzzle pieces fit together, and it all made horrifying sense.

Washington spent a while longer explaining a few more details; Shinji and Asuka were now unashamedly holding each other close, trying to take comfort in the familiarity of contact with each other. Suddenly, there was a brief orange pulse on Wash's holo-screen, and a faint, dull *whump* felt in the floor.

"W-What was that?" Shinji asked.

Wash grinned inside his helmet. "That, I believe…" he said "was Rei telling the Commander to suck it."

-_Mini-Break_-

**NERV Base – Commander's Office (35 Meters and two floors down from Agent Washington's position)**

**Simultaneous with Agent Washington's Conversation with Pilots Ikari & Sōryū**

Rei stood quietly in the dark, cavernous room, as Commander Ikari sat silently at his desk, hands held in their usual position. Fuyutsuki and Akagi stood nearby as well, waiting for the man to speak.

"Events are beginning to progress differently than predicted" he said. "We must adjust accordingly. We must ensure that the coalition's personnel do not apply any major alterations to the Evangelions' structure, lest they discover anything incriminating. Furthermore, the Second & Third Children's mental states are deviating outside the acceptable range for the Scenario. …Rei."

"Yes?"

"I need you to speak with Pilot Makinami, and convince her to accompany you to a set location."

"For what purpose?"

Gendō's eyebrow rose. "Are you questioning me, Rei?"

"Ikari…" Fuyutsuki spoke up. "You can't possibly mean to…"

"Makinami's interference was unforeseen and has triggered unacceptable changes in the Second & Third's demeanors. Once she is out of the way, it should be a simple matter to mold those two back to how we need them. Rei, I need you to-"

"No."

Three sets of eyes turned to face the girl, and were surprised to see a look of unmistakable anger on the normally-stoic girl's face.

"I will not do such a thing…" she spoke in a low, dangerous tone. "Nor will I allow anyone else to."

"Rei?" Ritsuko murmured.

"Washington and Lanstar were right" Rei's voice rose a little. "The scales have fallen from my eyes; I see you for what you truly are, _Commander_" she spoke the last word with venom. "I will not be party to any harm done to the other pilots."

Gendō was silent as he stood and faced her, the two glaring at each other. He then turned to his desk's intercom.

"Technicians, prepare a new Hybrid Unit for incarnation" he ordered. "Section-2 operatives, report to me ASAP for a new assignment."

The Commander suddenly became aware of a wavering in the air, a light shaking in the ground, and brief flashes of orange on the nearby monitor screens. The three adults looked around, trying to find the source of the sudden disturbance… and then they did. Her respect for the man now totally inverted, never-before-felt anger and fury and hatred surging forth, as pent-up pressure finally erupted.

"I will not!" Rei's voice rapidly rose. "Allow you to harm! MY! _FRIENDS!-!_"

The final word was punctuated by a near-blinding flash of orange, an AT Pulse that raced out, shaking the floor, walls, and ceiling, every electronic sparking orange, the monitors displaying a vibrant orange light before they shorted out. Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko were knocked off their feet. Gendō stared, eyes wide behind his glasses, at the girl whose aura wavered visibly with barely-contained power, her eyes glowing slightly, a look of rage on her face. He quickly drew his pistol, only for Rei's AT Field to crush its barrel, rendering it useless.

"Rei…" the Commander, for the first time in ages, felt a twinge of fear. That became more than a twinge when she used her AT Field to pin him to the wall.

"I have had _enough _of you!" For the first time ever, Rei – _Rei_, of all people – was yelling. She took a step forward, the floor tiles cracking beneath her feet. "I spent _years _being your obedient little doll, viewing myself as expendable, not truly _living_. But then Shinji came along, the first person to treat me like a human being, and I began to feel, to think, to _be_. And as the time has gone by, with him and with others, I have learned what it is to be _alive_ thanks to him, and to the others. …I love him. I love Shinji, and I love Asuka, and Mari, and Mana… And I _will not _let you hurt them! Not you, and not _anyone _else!"

"T…" Gendō choked out through the pressure being applied to his chest. "The scenario…"

"_Fuck _the scenario!" Rei screamed. "I am _done _with you! I'll not be your disposable pawn anymore! I am not just a clone of Yui and Lilith. I am not just a tool. I am not a doll. I am Ayanami Rei, and I am _alive_. …And I won't live for your sick purposes any longer."

With that, she turned and walked away, aiming to walk out of the office, her AT Field shimmering around her as a high-strength energy shield, which proved unnecessary as the Commander was too shocked to try anything. As she reached the door, she stopped and turned her head.

"I know enough about Yui to know that she would _never _forgive you for what you've done to Shinji."

And then she was gone. After several seconds, Ritsuko turned and followed, not looking back. Fuyutsuki looked at Gendō. "Rei's right in that" he said, and then walked away after Rei and Ritsuko, leaving the Bastard King of NERV alone.

-_Mini-Break_-

"So…" Asuka said. "Whose soul is in Unit-00's Core?"

Washington was quiet. "Honestly, I have no idea. They never revealed exactly who; the series creator told the viewers to 'draw their own conclusions'. The two main theories were Dr. Naoko Akagi's soul, and a piece of Rei's soul. There was no solid evidence to prove or disprove either one. It's one of the series' unsolved mysteries."

Suddenly, the alarm went off. The trio promptly made a run for the control room. When they got there, they found the others waiting, along with the Testarossas, Aqua, and Gamma Team.

"Status of the Angel?" Ritsuko asked.

"It's not an Angel, ma'am!" Hyūga replied. "It's another extra-planar incursion!"

"Put it up on screen" Fuyutsuki ordered.

The image showed a good-sized mass of 'malevolent extra-planar entities' marching toward the city. What was notable, however, were the dark creatures that were accompanying them.

"Heartless and Unversed…?" Aqua said. "How did they…?"

The view shifted to that of another sensor camera. Standing on a boulder, overlooking her army, was a small figure in a black cloak, two Dark Keyblades in her hands.

"It's her again" Laicixa said in a dangerous tone. "It's Ruin."

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next time: a battle, an awakening, and (if I have time to fit it in) an Angel.


	7. Defense

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**NERV – Command Center**

**September 28, 2015 – 1500 Hours**

"Should we… Should we scramble the Evangelions?" Aoba asked.

"No" Rei replied. "These enemies are too small for the Evangelions to effectively fight, especially if we wish to avoid serious collateral damage. I am afraid that this is in the coalition's hands."

Everyone watched the screen, as demons, Heartless, and Unversed continued their march towards Tokyo-3, led by the little black-cloaked dark Keyblade-wielder known as Ruin. Teana turned to her team, and they nodded.

"We're going out" she said.

"Me, too" Aqua added.

"And us" Fate said, Laicixa at her side.

"I'll go out and personally oversee civilian evac" Precia said. "And I'll make sure that any hostile that tries to attack the civvies gets reduced to ashes."

"Alright, girls, let's go bust some heads!" Teana shouted.

"Yes, ma'am!" her team replied.

-_Mini-Break_-

The battle was soon joined. Mai and Kizuna had formed up, the former wielding an M379 SAW and the latter a Sangheili Type-31 Needle Rifle, using weapons-fire and some low-level attack spells & jutsu to take down enemy foot soldiers. A dozen rounds from Mai's SAW destroyed three Shadows, while a three-shot supercombine from Kizuna's rifle took down a Type-E. A barrage of 17 Lightning-type _Sagitta Magica _from Mai took out a pack of Axe Flappers, while a few Darkballs were downed by a barrage of _Yōton _lava globs from Kizuna.

Teana and Ahsoka found their quarry soon enough, intercepting Ruin as she attempted to sneak past the battle and attack the coalition groundside base. Now, they squared off against her around 150 meters from the base; six blades, four of superheated energy and two of solidified raw Darkness, were brought forth. Ahsoka made the first strike, a Force Push that Ruin braced against, sliding back on her heels a few meters. Teana leapt in next, going for an overhead double strike, only for Ruin to snap her Keyblades up and block the attack. Ruin then conjured a shotgun-blast of Darkness projectiles, which Teana narrowly dodged by a fraction of a second. Ahsoka moved in with a roundhouse kick aimed at Ruin's still-hidden face, but the mysterious enemy managed to block it with her forearm, grab hold of Ahsoka's leg, and toss her aside, though the Togrutan managed to land on her feet.

Elsewhere, Fate was making her own dents in the enemy's numbers, Bardiche's golden blade bisecting demons and Heartless wherever she went. She tore through a pack of Soldier Heartless, and then took to the air to meet a large flock of Type-D demons. From that vantage point, after killing the fiends, she caught sight of an elementary school bus being pursued by a pack of hostiles… into a dead end. She immediately dove down to catch up. The bus full of kids was soon trapped, but Fate landed in-between it and the enemies. The horde charged, and she began to fight in earnest.

Capt. Rex shoulder-checked a Scrapper-type Unversed into a wall, killing it, and then turned his pistols on a Type-E, firing six shots to the chest and bringing it down. Nearby, Aqua and Laicixa were mowing down Unversed by the dozens, Keyblade swings and magic attacks destroying scores of the creatures. A fair distance away, another tendril of the enemy's advance was being halted by the others of Theta Team – Erika and Erio were in close, Stroke of Midnight and Strada cutting Heartless down, while Caro and Mariko used Needle Rifle shots to take out Demons, and Timmy used Lightning-type attacks and his modified M6D pistol to pick off Unversed. After a few minutes, Agent Florida joined them, Demons and Heartless falling to Capt. Flowers' accurate DMR fire.

Warthogs rolled out from the groundside base, lending their chainguns and gauss cannons to the cause. Grif floored the accelerator of the 'hog he was driving, flattening two Soldier-type Heartless; Church manned the gun, cutting Type-Fs out of the sky. A ways away, York's Warthog sideswiped a pack of Scrappers, as Wash fired the gauss cannon at Type-Es, large Unversed, and tightly-packed clusters of infantry. North and Tucker had taken position on the top floors of a few of the area's taller buildings, sniping targets of opportunity. Carolina had linked up with Sarah, the two using Gravity Hammers to smash their way through Demons. Tex was with Comm. Cody, gunning down a pack of Unversed that had tried to sneak around the battle and get to evacuating civilians. Packs of PLF-designed aerial quad-rotor drones were dispatched, and were soon adding their mounted machineguns' fire to the cause, cutting down Type-Gs, Shadows, and Floods, along with the occasional tougher foe.

Ahsoka's lightsabers moved with blurring speed as she deflected the barrage of Darkness bolts fired by Ruin. The dark being was then forced to halt her attack and leap away to avoid a _Katon: Hōsenka _from Teana, launching a Strike Raid at the girl; Teana, still in midair, quickly Flash Moved to the side, dodging the attack. She then landed and charged at Ruin, Mirage Longswords lashing out again and again, trying to break her smaller foe's superb defense. Ruin then let loose a pulse of dark-purple Lightning energy, forcing Teana and Ahsoka to leap away lest they take damage. The black-cloaked girl then attacked with a Dark Firaga, which crashed against Teana's rune-shield, fracturing it. Lanstar dispelled her shield and charged again, Ahsoka right behind her.

Fate fought tooth and nail to keep the dark creatures away from the children. _Haken _Saber disks and Photon Lancer bullets flew, cutting them down at a high rate, yet they kept coming, intent on reaching the plethora of fresh, pure Hearts to consume. The TSAB's Golden Ace was constantly on the move, intercepting attempts to get around her and attack the bus. This was becoming increasingly more difficult as more and more hostiles showed up and began focusing their attacks on her. She fired off a _Katon: Gōkakyū _at a tightly-packed group of Soldiers, Scrappers, and Type-Gs, and before it had even hit she spun and used Bardiche's blade to bisect a Type-E and cut a Large Body open. A pack of Air Soldiers tried to get past her from above, only for a Photon Lancer strike to bring them down.

Suddenly, she heard a scream. She turned around, and saw that one of the kids – identified by her magical HUD as Nozomi Horaki – had snuck out of the bus and tried to make a run for it, only for an Invisible to spot her and give chase, rapidly catching up to her. The girl tripped when she turned to look, and the shadowy creature swung down with its blade.

There was a *crack* as, for an instant, Fate broke the sound barrier. She reappeared blocking the Invisible's sword… but it was not just Bardiche doing the blocking. In Fate's left hand was a weapon with a white handle completely surrounded by a smooth, circular, dark indigo guard. The rather short shaft of the blade was also a dark indigo color. The head and teeth were comprised of a dark indigo cross with a magenta diamond set in three of its four arms, leaving the arm opposite the "teeth" bare, and a white ring connected all four arms of the cross. From the hilt extended a white chain leading to a small triangular keychain that resembled the head of the blade, being dark indigo with three magenta triangles and one triangular gap decorating it.

Fate stared in awe at the weapon she had just manifested. The 'Sign of Innocence'. A Keyblade.

In other parts of the city, Aqua, Laicixa, and Erika turned in the direction of Fate's fight, sensing the manifestation of a new Keyblade. Pausing in her fight against Teana and Ahsoka, Ruin let a smirk form on her face. "At last…" she whispered.

The Invisible stepped back, surprised… which gave Fate the time to regain herself and lash out, the Sign of Innocence diagonally bisecting the Heartless. Then, Bardiche began to glow in her right hand. Its form shifted, as Fate felt a warmth within her chest flowing down her arm and into the Device. When the light faded, Bardiche had taken a Keyblade form – the axe-head as the 'teeth', a long black shaft with the cartridge system at its base, an angular black guard, and the golden triangular shape of Bardiche's dormant form serving as the keychain.

"New mode created" the Device's AI said, its crystal-core now part of the guard, at the base of the shaft. "Several functions that are unique to this mode have been detected."

There was suddenly a *whoosh* several meters up above, as a small portal opened. Out of it flew a Keyblade Glider which vanished in a flash of light, the Keyblade Armor-wearing rider disengaging his armor and landing at Fate's side, All For One in his hands. "Yo" Kanba said with a grin to the mildly surprised Fate. "How long you had that thing?"

"A-About 80 seconds" Fate replied.

"Okay, then. …Looks like you've got your hands full here. Mind if I help out?"

"Not at all, Kanade-kun; I'd appreciate it."

"Okay, then. Let's go!"

The two braced themselves as the horde attacked again, and three Keyblades (plus four vectors) began to cut hostiles down by the dozens.

Finally, reinforcements from the _Starshot _arrived at the city, and the enemy was quickly whittled down. The fight didn't last much longer. Ruin, sensing that her underlings were being dispatched or retreating, cut off her fight against Teana & Ahsoka and stepped through a Dark Gateway, vanishing. Most of the defenders then returned to base, a few volunteering for damage control. Thankfully, there were no civilian fatalities.

-_Mini-Break_-

As Fate and Kanba walked into the coalition's groundside base, shocked gasps rang out as her Keyblade was spotted.

"_Another _one?" Marie said.

"And she's got two" Aqua added.

"Well, one of them is her Device" Teana said.

"Actually," Fate said, "Bardiche has shown that when he's in this form, he possesses the various abilities that are unique to Keyblades."

"So we've got Aqua, Fate, Laicixa, Erika and Kanba" Shion counted off. "Five Keyblade Wielders"

"Plus," Teana said, "we now know that our enemy has command of Heartless and Unversed. We've got two new groups of enemy types to worry about now…"

"One thing at a time" Precia said. "Were we able to ensure that none of what happened today got to SEELE?"

"Yes" Dr. Halsey replied. "Jerrod was able to fabricate data to send to them, as well as pinpoint their operatives in the city, prevent them from sending reports back, and mark them for our ONI operatives to… silence."

"We'll probably need to keep Rei here or aboard the _Starshot_" Washington said. "Just before the attack, she made her disrespect for Commander Ikari and his plans abundantly clear."

"_Agreed_" Col. Holland said over the comm. "_And if she goes anywhere, she goes with armed escort to protect her from Ikari's reprisal._"

In a side room, Shinji and Asuka sat close together on a sofa, in their own little world, neither of them having said anything for quite some time. They were still reeling from the revelations that Wash had given them. The relatively short battle had distracted them for a while, but now their minds were free to focus their full attention on the shocking things they'd learned.

"S-So…" Asuka said. "All this time…"

"Yeah…" Shinji replied. "…They're still watching out for us, first and foremost. …But… The things my fath… the Commander is planning…"

"He's lost his mind. When your mom was taken away from him, she took his sanity with her."

"Seems that way…"

"…Hey, Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking… We're more alike than I used to think. We both have… issues, and there's what happened to our mothers…"

"Yeah…"

Asuka sighed and then did one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

"Shinji, I… I'm sorry."

The boy turned to look at her. "For what?"

"For… everything. All the insults, the bitching, the complaining, the put-downs, the taunts, the violence… I just… I'm not at all used to letting people get close to me; I once overheard Kaji-san say I had cast-iron spiky walls around my heart. …Now, don't expect me to be like this all the time; I ain't gonna soften up all at once."

The boy couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, that would be a little too weird if you went from full-_tsun _to full-_dere _all at once."

She chuckled. "…Do you mind if I ask you something else?"

"What?"

"Back before the 12th Angel, when we… when we kissed… Why didn't you hold me?"

"…Because you were pinching my nose shut. I couldn't enjoy or participate in it because I couldn't think of anything other than the desperate need for oxygen."

"Oh…" Asuka blushed. "Oops…"

Shinji startled slightly as he felt Asuka laid her hand atop his without looking at him. Hesitantly, he turned his hand over and held hers, fingers lacing together. She shuffled over next to him, pressing/leaning against him, laying her head on his shoulder and letting out a sigh. After about a minute of just staying like this, she picked her head up and turned to look at him, and he at her. She reached a hand up and softly brushed his cheek.

"L-Let's see what it's like if I'm not pinching your nose shut this time…" she whispered.

She moved forward, closing her eyes as her lips made contact with his. Able to breathe this time, he kissed back, his arms going around her back and waist. She let out a happy little moan as she embraced him back. Feeling a little bold, Shinji mimicked what Mari had done to him, using the hand now cradling Asuka's head to tilt her head back a little, while his tongue then requested entry. She let out a muffled coo as she accepted, taking his tongue in her mouth and sucking on it lightly, and then slipping her own into his mouth. She leaned into him, letting him support her weight as he held her close.

Eventually they disconnected, panting lightly, but unwilling to part they remained holding onto each other tightly, and pressed their foreheads together, gazing into each other's eyes. Asuka then nestled her head into the crook of Shinji's neck, and as he held her close, one hand softly running through her hair, she closed her eyes and let out a content sigh, a peaceful, beautiful smile on her face.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV – Command Center**

**October 3, 2015 – 1805 Hours**

The past five days had been free of any further drama or action. Rei now 'lived' at the coalition's groundside base, frequently spending time with Asuka, Shinji, Mana, and/or Mari. Shinji, speaking of which, was spending equal time with the four girls, both alone (well, not too much with Mana since she hadn't even admitted her feelings for him to herself, much less to him) and together as a group. Asuka found herself getting used to Mari's habit of invading her personal space, and was on some level coming to enjoy the (surprisingly) gentle physical contact.

It had been a nice, quiet, peaceful week. And then the Angel Alarm went off.

"Status and location of the target" Misato said. "Where in the city is it, and what's it doing?"

"It's not in the city, ma'am" Lt. Aoba replied. "It's holding position in high orbit. Bringing it on-screen now."

The view from one of the satellite cameras showed the massive white Angel, which looked to be composed near-entirely of a pair of massive, intricate wings. A comparatively-small Core was clutched in its 'talons' at the base of the wings.

"The Fifteenth…" Ritsuko murmured. "Arael…"

"…Get the Evangelions ready, and find the positron cannon."

"That will not be necessary" Teana said as she walked in. "The situation is well under control."

"What do you mean?" Akagi asked.

Teana smirked. "Well, since it's sitting up there, a nice big target with no risk of collateral damage…"

A second big screen popped up, showing the Angel from another angle… and the _Starshot _as it took position, the destroyer's spinal-mounted particle cannon charging. Arael took notice of the intrusion, and its Divining Light shined out, engulfing the ship… only for the Forerunner vessel's shields to repel the attack. Arael had just managed to wear the _Starshot_'s shields down to around 65% when the vessel's main gun fired.

At full charge, the accelerated charged particle cannon mounted on a Forerunner _M_-class destroyer was capable of wearing down a Sangheili _Counselor_-class assault carrier's shields and then burning clean through the vessel. At 70% charge, it proved more than enough to punch through Arael's AT Field in two-thirds of a second and then blast a huge hole through the Angel, obliterating its Core. The creature let out a psionic death scream that was actually somewhat beautiful, but faded away quickly as its body lost its glow. It began to break apart as the Earth's gravity grabbed hold and pulled it down into the atmosphere.

"No energy signatures from the Angel's Core" Lt. Hyūga reported. "Target is breaking up. We have confirmation of the target's destruction. …Damn, that was awesome."

"Okay, people, crisis averted" Teana said. "Get back to work."

As the staff promptly did so, Teana took a seat next to Ritsuko, who sighed.

"I still can't believe he used me like that…" she murmured sadly. "Or that I ended up falling in the same trap as my mother."

"Ikari's a master manipulator," Teana replied, "on par with Parangosky or Mengsk. Don't be too hard on yourself; he's likely twisted and used people even smarter and wiser than you."

"Still… I actually fooled myself into thinking he cared for me. That was _my _poor judgment, not his manipulative skills."

"It was both, I'd say."

The doctor let out another sad sigh. "Alone…" she whispered.

Teana looked at her. "Well… I probably shouldn't be saying this, but… you _do _have an admirer among the bridge staff here. She holds the utmost respect and admiration for you, she's very loyal and devoted to you, and I may have caught her checking you out now & then." She grinned. "She'd do anything for her _senpai_."

Ritsuko's eyes widened with surprise. 'Maya?' she thought. She looked at her younger female protégé, who looked slightly bored at her station. Maya turned around and saw Ritsuko looking at her, and then blushed as she looked away and got back to work.

'Well…' Ritsuko thought. 'She is pretty cute. And she's a total sweetheart. …I guess it's worth a shot.'

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV Base – Lower Levels**

**October 5, 2015 – 2002 Hours**

Shinji carefully maneuvered Unit-01 down the wide hatchway that led deep, deep down into the bowels of the Geofront. Scans had detected activity down here, and Ahsoka had stated she detected hostile intent from… whatever was down here. Reading suggested that whatever it was, it was big. So now, he was on his way down to deal with it.

Shinji relaxed a little as he sat in the Entry Plug. The moment he'd gotten in, he'd reached out with his mind, seeking his mother's essence deep within the Eva. Now, he basked in a soft, comforting warmth, a feeling of peace and security being projected onto him by the soul within. His synchronization ratio was holding steady at 98.47%. He looked around, admiring the upgrades made – better HUD, streamlined controls that wouldn't make his hands hurt as bad after holding onto for any lengthy period of time, and in place of the old internal battery countdown was a screen showing readings of Eva-01's new UNSC-made deuterium fusion reactor, currently showing green across the board.

Most obvious was that the Entry Plug was no longer filled with LCL (and seeing that Shinji now knew exactly what LCL was, he was damn glad for that). Instead, oxygen was supplied from subspace-stored tanks and could also be filtered in from outside (and in case both of those were left impractical, highly-advanced air scrubbers were also installed to filter out the carbon dioxide of Shinji's exhaled breaths), while g-forces and shocks were alleviated by precise artificial gravity/antigravity generators and g-diffusers. All in all, Unit-01 had been vastly improved, in Shinji's opinion. Units 00, 02, and 05 were set to receive their upgrades soon, too.

He was nearing the bottom now; he could see it thanks to the fairly powerful forward-floodlights installed on either side of Unit-01's head – another handy little addition the coalition had made. As he neared the floor and the massive door, he thought aloud. "I could've sworn Wash said the 16th Angel would be above-ground.

In response, he received something unexpected, in the form of a short sentence beamed directly to his mind from the soul of Yui herself: "_It's not an Angel._"

No sooner had Shinji gotten that 'message' then he reached the bottom and opened the door… and caught sight of his target. He bit back a gasp of shock. It was huge, around 75 meters tall, with four glowing horizontally-aligned yellow eyes and a mouth full of sharp fangs. Dark-red skin covered a muscled body, two huge arms ending in hands tipped with black claws. A quick peek below identified the being as sexless. Shinji promptly transmitted the visual up to the control room, to the shock of the viewers.

"That…" Shion said "is one big _Oni_."

"How'd a Demon that size get down there?" Mai asked. "And undetected, at that?"

Shinji reacted quickly, bringing up his Evangelion's burst-fire rifle. The _Oni _ducked under the shot and lashed out, knocking Unit-01 over onto its back, and then turning and making a break down the hall.

"Lilith…" Fuyutsuki whispered with horrified realization. "It's going after Lilith… Shinji-kun, get up! You've got to stop that thing _now_!"

Shinji quickly got Eva-01 back on its feet and charged down the massive corridor, chasing after the Demon. He caught up with it just as it neared a massive set of double-doors. With a shout, he hit the _Oni _with a running tackle, slamming it into the huge doors and knocking them down, the two titans crashing through into the humongous chamber on the other side.

There was a massive lake of LCL, big enough that there was a warship floating in it. In the center was a gigantic red cross reaching up toward the ceiling, and hanging from it was a huge white humanoid entity, its legs missing and with scores of tiny human-sized legs sticking out of where they should be, wearing a purple mask with seven stylized eyes. A gigantic red two-pronged lance was impaled into its chest. Shinji looked at the dormant form of Lilith.

"I was expecting something uglier…" he muttered. He then ducked to avoid a swing of the _Oni_'s massive arm at Eva-01's neck, and lashed out with a kick to its midsection, knocking it into the lake of LCL with a splash. The huge Demon roared as it righted itself, and from its inner two eyes it fired twin beams of yellow energy that crashed against Eva-01's hastily-raised AT Field. Shinji then 'threw' the Field forward, smashing into the Demon's front like a gigantic sledgehammer, and then he drew his Unit's prog-knife and charged. The _Oni _regained itself and lashed out with its claws, sending sparks as it raked across Unit-01's chest armor. Shinji used his knife to cut a gash in its left shoulder, and then a well-placed rising slash took out its outer left eye. The beast roared in pain and fury, and a burst from its remaining three eyes shattered 01's knife. This was followed by a devastating punch that send Unit-01 hurtling back, landing at the foot of Lilith's Cross.

Shinji willed his Eva to rise, and he looked around for a weapon. His eyes caught the handle of the Longinus Lance, and without further ado he reached up with his Eva's hands and grabbed hold. With a solid yank, it came free, and Shinji spun it around in his Unit's grip, taking a defensive stance as he stared the _Oni _down. He paid little mind to the sound of Lilith's legs spontaneously regrowing in the wake of the Lance's removal behind him.

The _Oni _rushed forward, lashing out with a straight punch at 01's head. The Eva brought the Longinus Lance up, blocking the blow, and Shinji was surprised the power blow's momentum didn't rock him back as much as it logically should have. He supposed this was the lance's doing. Not missing a beat, he counterattacked, dealing a swift combination of blunt-force blows with the lance, aiming for the Demon's joints and head. He landed a rising slash-strike that cut a gash up the _Oni_'s chest, and then he landed a roundhouse kick that sent the Demon stumbling back against the far wall, disoriented. Shinji then reared back and, with a heave, threw the Longinus Lance at the Demon.

The spear punched through the dark entity's chest, pinning it to the wall. The _Oni _roared and thrashed, but the wound and the mystical energy contained within the Longinus Lance soon took their toll, and the dark titan went silent and limp, the light leaving its eyes. Shinji walked up to his still foe, drew his Eva's pistol, and fired two shots into its forehead point-blank, just in case.

"Hostile neutralized" he reported. "Returning to the upper levels."

Sitting in his usual spot, Gendō kept his expression neutral. 'Not exactly the way I'd planned it,' he thought, 'but the end result is still the same: the Longinus Spear is no longer suppressing Lilith's power. One more step towards completing the plan…'

Little did Commander Ikari know that the coalition was already running a plan of their own…

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next time: the final Angels, and rebirth


	8. Resurrect

Sorry about that wait; I've been working on another fic for another site at the same time as this one. Plus, I'm participating in the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge, so that's more time spent away from this story.

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**NERV – Command Center**

**October 7, 2015 – 1140 Hours**

"Identity confirmed" Lt. Hyūga said as he typed at his console. "Target in the hills just outside the city is designate Armisael, the Sixteenth Angel."

The main holoscreen showed a massive, glowing white double-helix ring spinning serenely in place, hovering over the grassy hills. Seconds later, Evangelions 01, 02, and 05 emerged from nearby lifts, stepping out, the pilots observing.

"So first we had one that looked like an angel's wings, and now we have one that looks like a halo…" Shinji said. "So what next? A chubby little kid with fluffy wings and a bow & arrow?"

"Hey," Asuka replied, "I've skimmed through the Bible once or twice, and lemme tell you: some of that book's descriptions of angels – as in, God's underlings – are freaky as shit; a lot of the things we call 'Angels' wouldn't look too out-of-place at all. Even the ones who looked human had an aura to them that left people terrified. The cuddly, cute & pretty, human-form image of angels is a relatively recent popular-culture creation."

"Why isn't it doing anything?" Misato asked from her place in the NERV bridge.

"Perhaps it hasn't yet detected the Evangelions," Kaji replied, "or maybe it has and is just waiting for them to make the first move."

"Well, let's not keep it waiting" Mari said. She willed her upgraded Eva's AT Field to form.

As soon as she did, Armisael stopped spinning. It shifted form, becoming a solid band of glowing white. Then, it 'broke', becoming a long, comparatively-thin filament-like thing, and then flew straight at Unit-05, like a striking snake.

"Whoa!" Mari threw her Eva to the side, barely dodging the Sixteenth's tip. As it passed her she drew her knife and stabbed at it, but it only created a shallow surface wound. As the 'head' coiled back and lunged at her Eva's face, she leapt away, getting some distance. Eva-02 activated its AT Field, and Armisael immediately turned to 'face' her, and then flew straight at her. This did not go unnoticed.

"Guys!" Agent Washington said. "It's tracking you by your AT Fields! It only started moving once Mari activated hers, and the second Asuka brought hers up it headed for her! Keep your AT Fields down unless absolutely necessary! Try to use them to distract it!"

"I lowered mine after it passed me, but it still went for my face!" Mari said. "So the Angel probably has a minimum range where it doesn't need a Field to track us by. If it gets close, try to get away from it!"

"Good plan," Shinji replied, "especially since I really don't wanna find out what'll happen if it makes contact with any of us."

Unit-02 rolled to the side and leapt back, Asuka firing shots with her Eva's pistol; the shells basically bounced off of Armisael's body, doing no apparent damage. As she deactivated her AT Field, Shinji turned his on, and as the 16th charged at him he fired bursts from his Eva's rifle, to no avail. He deactivated his Field and dove to the side, and Armisael crashed into the hillside he'd been standing in front of, quickly shaking off the impact and seeking its prey.

"So this particular Angel is still subject to momentum" Dr. Akagi remarked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't look like it took any more damage from that than it did from our guns" Asuka replied.

Shinji looked around, trying to find something, anything, to use to their advantage. Soon, he found something, and a grin formed on his face. "Asuka, Mari, I have a plan."

A minute later, he'd finished explaining his idea to them, and they both agreed it was worth a shot. With that, the trio began doing as Shinji planned, sporadically activating and deactivating their AT Fields to guide and 'lure' the Angel, gradually bringing it closer and closer to their goal. Finally, Evangelions 01 and 02 stood side-by-side, and flared their AT Fields. Armisael, who was presently higher up, shot down toward them with great speed. Velocity increased, the Sixteenth ready to merge with and corrupt the Shadow of Lilith and one of the Shadows of Adam. It was less than a second away, when suddenly the Evas deactivated their Fields and launched themselves to either side, allowing Armisael's momentum to carry it past where they'd been…

"_Olé_!"

…And straight into the electrical power station that was now right in its path.

There were several brilliant flashes of light, huge amounts of electricity surging into and through the Angel's body, as it writhed and twitched and 'screamed', being cooked from the inside-out by the voltage coursing over and through it. Finally, there was a pulse of orange light as the Angel's Core succumbed to the onslaught. The beast went still, and then collapsed to the ground, its body fading to a dull grey, smoldering and sparking.

"Anybody up for barbecue?" Shinji cracked.

"Confirmed: no further signals detected from the Angel's Core" Maya reported. "The Sixteenth Angel has been killed."

"I'll contact the power company" Fuyutsuki said with a weary sigh. "I'll let them know what's happened and what they'll need to do for us to safely remove the Angel's corpse."

"Better to find a way to kill an Angel that costs a few thousand dollars rather than a few thousand lives" Marie said.

"True" the old man replied. "True."

"At least the city has redundant power systems," Teana remarked, "so there shouldn't be too much in the way of blackouts."

"So there's just one left now, right?" Ritsuko quietly said to Washington.

"Yeah" the ex-Freelancer replied. "Though he's gonna be… pretty different from the ones we've seen so far…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV – Evangelion Hangars**

**October 10, 2015 – 1527 Hours**

Shinji and Asuka walked together, planning to spend time in the presence of their Evas now that they knew what they did. As they neared their destination, Agent Washington showed up.

"Shinji, Asuka, glad you came" he said. "Saves me the trouble of looking for you."

"What's going on, sir?" Shinji asked.

"Remember what the Keyblade-Wielders did with Kaede and Nyū?" he asked as he walked with them to the Evangelion Hangar.

"Yeah…" Asuka said. "And?"

"Well…"

They went through the door to the hangars, and Shinji & Asuka stopped and stared. Units 01 and 02 had their Cores exposed, the heavy armor either shifted out of the way or carefully removed and laid out to the side. In front of each was a large contraption that looked Forerunner in design and was centered on a Khaydarin Crystal; the two pilots quickly recognized what looked like bigger, more streamlined versions of what had been used to give Nyū her own body. Upon seeing that all five of the coalition's Keyblade Wielders were present, it didn't take them long to put two and two together. Wash put his hands on the shocked teens' shoulders.

"We're gonna go for it" he said.

The two took position by the side, watching as everyone bustled about, making final preparations. The two Forerunner-Protoss hybrid machines came to life, humming and glowing a brilliant blue. Non-essential personnel cleared the area. Fate, Aqua, Laicixa, Kanba, and Erika stood close together in an odd pattern. They summoned their Keyblades, and a magical rune formed beneath them, the three-pronged crown shape/symbol of the Keyblade magic system; Erika, Aqua, and Kanba stood at the tip of the 'prongs', while Fate and Laicixa formed the base. They raised their Keyblades high, pointing up at an angle. Each Keyblade formed a point of light, which then shot forth as a thin beam. The five beams converged at a single point of light, which grew in intensity by the second.

From the glowing ball of Light, a thin pillar of light shot up several meters and then forked, two beams curving through the air and making contact with the exposed Cores of the Evangelions, which began to glow. The five Keybladers focused their energies. The other mages added their magical energy to the cause, some keeping the machines stable while others donated their mana to the five Wielders; a few Protoss and Huragok were on hand to further ensure their devices worked as they should.

"What is going on here?" Fuyutsuki near-shouted as he and the Commander walked in; Ikari was shocked silent, looking between the Keyblade-Wielders, the exposed Cores, and the hybrid machines.

"Do not disturb them" Dark Templar Koszagul said as he walked up to the two men. "We are attempting the process that gave the Kanade sisters their own separate bodies."

"You're…" Fuyutsuki's eyes widened. "You're trying to bring them back…"

"It took a lot of work to construct and calibrate those machines" Agent York said as he walked up. "And then there was planning the details, writing out the complex magical formulae necessary… So please, let 'em focus."

"You're… You're doing NERV a great service…"

York took off his helmet and looked the two in the eyes. "We're not doing this for you guys. We're doing this for us, so we'll have access to those women's unique skill sets… and we're doing it for the kids, so they'll have their mothers back."

Slowly but surely, the thick converged beams connected to the Units' Cores began to retract, pulling with them a pair of glowing lights.

"Those are…" Fuyutsuki muttered.

"Yeah" York replied. "Their Hearts – known by the rank-and-file as souls… It's kinda odd, really; what regular people call souls, Keyblade-Wielders and others of their ilk call Hearts, and what the Wielders call the soul is what other folk would call life-force."

The extracted Hearts were moved over to above and in front of the two machines, which then glowed brightly as they came online. Tendrils of blue and white light came forth from the machines, engulfing and enveloping the Hearts in bluish-white spheres of energy that soon grew to around six feet across each. The five Keyblade-wielders relaxed and release their hold, all five of them panting lightly. Now the carefully-preserved and acquired DNA samples of the Hearts' two old bodies were added to the equation. Through the mostly-opaque shells of energy, the faint outline of a shape could be seen growing within each sphere, gradually assuming the form of a human body curled up in the fetal position. The contained figures continued to take form; soon, they looked complete.

There were two simultaneous brilliant flashes of light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. After a few seconds, the light faded to tolerable levels, revealing two still-glowing figures slowly floating down to the ground. The glow faded, revealing two women of slightly-below-middle age and modest beauty, nude and with eyes closed, one with short brown hair and the other with shoulder-length red. They landed softly on their feet, going down to crouching positions. A few of the TSAB mages on hand shot beams of materialization magic at them, forming clothing around their bodies to protect their modesty.

"My God…" Gendō muttered, gobsmacked. "It worked… It actually worked…"

Wash walked up to Yui Ikari, crouching down to eye level as she raised her head and opened her eyes.

"Doctor Ikari?" he asked. "Do you remember anything?"

Yui's eyes focused on him. "Yes" she replied. "I remember everything. …As I recall from the images Cortana showed me, you're… Agent Washington, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. …Welcome back to the land of the living."

Several feet away, Teana stepped up to Kyōko Uchiha-Zeppelin-Sōryū, offering her a hand. The revived woman accepted it, flashing her _Sharingan _as she smiled at her young relative, a pair of gestures that Teana returned.

"That was certainly interesting" Kyōko said. "…And somehow, even though this body is brand-new, I can feel my chakra levels as strong as ever…"

"It's magic" Teana replied. "Some magic you just shouldn't bother trying to understand, lest you get a major headache. All the quantum, higher-dimensional, fractal crap…"

Kyōko then by chance looked over in the direction of the door, and caught sight of the red-haired girl, a little younger than Teana, staring at her with wide, blue, tearful eyes. It didn't take her long to figure out who this was.

"Asuka…" she whispered.

The young redhead jumped slightly, the woman's whisper somehow seeming deafeningly loud and near-inaudibly quiet at the same time. She took a shaky step forward. "Mama…?" she choked out.

Kyōko smiled and held her arms out, beckoning her now-teenage daughter. The girl slowly came closer, trembling, her eyes never leaving the woman. Kyōko slowly walked toward her, meeting her halfway. Asuka collapsed into her arms, hugged onto her for dear life, and burst into tears. Several meters away, the exact same thing was taking place with Yui & Shinji. Shinji cried softly but freely in his mother's arms, while Asuka was pretty much bawling like a baby, unable to even stand up anymore, mother & daughter falling to their knees.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, nobody wanting to interrupt them. As Shinji calmed down, Gendō cautiously approached.

"Y… Yui…"

Hardly anyone could track Yui's ensuing movement. One second, her gaze had shifted to Gendō, her expression shifting from calm love (for Shinji) to furious rage. The next moment, Gendō was on the floor on his back several feet away, with a hairline fracture in his jaw, his glasses knocked away. Yui stalked toward him, and Washington suddenly noticed that his knife was no longer strapped to his thigh.

"Whoa, _whoa_!" York quickly moved to restrain Yui just as she started raising the titanium blade high. "Easy, ma'am! Calm down!"

Rubbing his aching jaw, Gendō stammered, eyes wide with shock.

"You… rancid son of a bitch" Yui growled at him. "I don't know what the _fuck _happened to you after I left, but you are _not _the man I fell in love with a decade ago! Not anymore! Sleeping with a lonely woman just to manipulate her for your own purposes, and then sending a child to be murdered so as to get the woman to dispose of herself, and _then _turning around and manipulating her daughter the same way! Planning to end the fucking _world _just to bring me back! But that's not the worst of it. No, what I can truly never forgive you for is what you did to Shinji – to _my baby_! You abandoned him, left him a complete wreck with no self-esteem and more issues than National Geographic!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, a few people couldn't help but have to fight back chuckles at the joke.

"And then you call him back here and stick him in a life-or-death situation with no warning, no training, no explanations, and no care – just throw him into the grinder and hope he doesn't come out in too many pieces! _And _then there's planning to use Asuka and Mari – the daughters of my two closest friends – as sacrificial pawns! _And _there's creating a beautiful, brilliant little girl full of promise, but then twisting her into an emotionally-stunted tool with no self-preservation instinct whatsoever! Thank God that Shinji and Asuka managed to get through to poor Rei or I don't know what could've happened!"

"I do" Washington said. "And trust me: it wouldn't have been pretty."

"…H-How could you know?" Gendō found himself asking the ex-Freelancer.

"We've all known everything we need to know about this world thanks to me" Wash replied as he folded his arms. "You remember how my universe's events are fiction in Swanson's universe? Well, _this _universe's events are fiction in _my_ 'verse, and I happen to have watched the entirety of the old show called '_Neon Genesis Evangelion_' during my hunt for the Director. So I know _exactly _what could have – no, what _would _have happened without our interference: Third Impact, and the death of the entire human race except for Shinji and Asuka, both of whom were left completely mentally broken by it all. I told the others everything, about you and SEELE and the Evangelions and everything else important, and we've been working behind the scenes to fuck up your plans _and _SEELE's, ever since our second day on this planet!"

"They managed to recruit Agent Kaji to their cause after the Thirteenth Angel," Fuyutsuki said to the Commander as he walked over to stand by the Freelancer, "and Dr. Akagi & myself just before the Fourteenth attacked. You've fallen too far, Ikari. I couldn't stand by and let you kill the world… and, more importantly, I couldn't let you destroy Yui's son."

"You're through, Bastard King of NERV" Wash said. "We'll use ONI tech, voice imitation software, Forerunner-grade holograms, and audio clips from the show to make SEELE think you're still in charge. …Gendō Rokubungi-Ikari, in response to your acts of child neglect, adultery, extortion, conspiracy against sovereign governments, collaboration with the terrorist organization known as SEELE, intent to commit crimes against humanity, and being an overall complete asshole, by the power vested in me by the United Nations Space Command Office of Naval Intelligence, I, David McCormick, Freelancer Agent Washington, UNSC Army Captain, member of O.N.I. Special Warfare and Investigations, do hereby place you under arrest."

Gendō was in too much shock to resist as a trio of ODSTs came up to him, and then escorted him out in handcuffs. Yui let out an angry sigh as tensions slowly left her, and then turned to Shinji. "I'm so sorry you had to see that, sweetie."

"I-It's okay, mom" the boy replied. "It's okay…"

It was then that Yui noticed a pair of quiet footsteps slowly, shyly walking up to her. She turned, and saw Rei looking at her, the blue-haired girl looking unsure and nervous. Yui walked up close to her, and Rei flinched as Yui raised her hand, only to open her eyes again as Yui gently laid her hand atop Rei's head, smiling warmly at her. The girl slowly stepped closer, feeling unusually shy and hesitant, and Yui promptly pulled her into a hug, which she returned after a few seconds of shock wore off. Yui reached one arm out and pulled Shinji in to join the hug.

Nearby, the Sōryū pair had watched the events transpiring. "Good riddance to bad rubbish…" Kyōko murmured as Gendō was led away.

"Not much left to happen, is there?" Asuka said.

"The real fight's gonna start now" Teana replied. "We'll have to deal with SEELE soon."

Kyōko nodded, and then reached out and pulled Teana close to her side, catching the teen by surprise. The girl looked at her with surprise.

"You may be an accomplished soldier," Kyōko said, "but you're still only 16. And since I am your only known surviving adult relative…"

"…Well," Asuka said, "I _have _been calling her '_nee-san_' for a while now…"

Teana fidgeted a little, but she still happily let herself be hugged. Kyōko looked over to Yui, who looked back. The two close friends smiled and nodded at each other.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Groundside Coalition Base**

**Same Day – 1905 Hours**

"I still think it's very impressive" Kyōko said to Teana. "You're only 16 years old, yet you already have the _Mangekyō Sharingan _and a fully-formed _Susanō_. That's incredible!"

"It just… happened" Teana replied. "That's all I can say, really."

The group had headed to the groundside base after finishing up at NERV. Shinji and Asuka had spent pretty much all of the past several hours by their mother's sides. Kyōko was also spending time getting to know Teana, in preparation for officially becoming the girl's legal guardian. Yui was nearby, working on getting Rei to open up more while also having Shinji use her lap as a pillow. The two revived scientists had been filled in on everything that they didn't already know, and right now they were waiting for someone to arrive before they would tell the coalition group 'something interesting'.

That person now arrived, stepping through the door. Upon seeing Yui and Kyōko, she burst into tears of joy.

"They weren't lying" Tomoyo said. "They really did it! They brought both of you back!"

The two got to their feet and walked over to Tomoyo, and the three old friends were quickly in a tight, three-person hug. While that was going on, Mari and Mana slipped past and sat down between Asuka and Shinji; Mari pulled Asuka close to her right side, laying the girl's head on her right shoulder and putting her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders, while doing the same to Mana on her left, while Rei casually grabbed Mana's left hand and Shinji's right and placed them together, and then leaned against Shinji's left side, holding his left hand and pressing him against Mana. Mana blushed from Mari holding her close while Shinji held her hand and leaned against her, but she didn't do anything to try and get out of it.

"We make such a cute quintet" Mari said happily. "I love you guys."

Eventually, the trio broke apart, and then the sight of the kids snuggled up together on the couch brought smiles to their faces.

"Okay," Yui said, "you five can stay like that while we explain. Now we've just gotta wait for a few others to either show up or set up vid-lines."

Tomoyo pulled out a camera and took a picture of the kids on the couch; Mana, Asuka, and Shinji blushed lightly at having this tender, guards-down scene immortalized in a photograph.

Soon the girls of Gamma and Sigma Teams were present, along with Misato, Ritsuko, Erika, Timmy, Caboose, and Shamal; everyone else was tuning in via video commlink.

"So what's this big thing you wanna tell us?" Teana asked.

"Where & when my mother came from to get to this world," Kyōko replied, "and the legacy she created."

Everyone focused their full attention on Kyōko. Teana had Cross Mirage set to record the conversation.

"As you know, my mother, Ren Uchiha, was the daughter of Izuna Uchiha; he sired her shortly before his death. When she was young, my mother fought in the Great Shinobi World War."

"Which one?" Marie asked.

Kyōko paused. "Wait… What do you mean, 'which one'? W-Was there another one?"

"There have been three" Teana replied. "And things looked to be gearing up toward a fourth when we were there. There was the one that ended 47 years ago; the one that took place 28-25 years ago with the primary combatants being the Lands of Fire, Wind, Rock, and Rain; and the one 19 to 17 years ago in which all five Great Shinobi Nations fought. When we left, seeds had been sown for what looked to be a war between the Five Great Nations and an extremely powerful mercenary and terrorist group called Akatsuki."

"Two more wars…" Kyōko murmured. "Mother told me about the Great War… or, I guess, the First Great War, but she thought that the peace treaties it ended with would prevent large-scale conflicts. Seems human nature said otherwise…"

"Sad to say, but war seems to be an ingrained part of humanity."

"Mmm… Anyway, where was I? Right, when the war ended my mother was 15 years old. …Only a few weeks after the war's end, she was engaged in a skirmish with Iwagakure holdouts when she fell through a rift in space-time. She came out here in this world in 1968, 47 years ago. She was found, taken in, and eventually adopted by Hiro and Hikari Sōryū; mom had grown up with the shadow of battle and death constantly hanging over her, but grandma & grandpa managed to help her adjust to peace rather easily. At 18, mom met a man named Heinrich Zeppelin, a dignitary of West Germany. She gave birth to me at 22, having married Heinrich two months prior. …My father died during Second Impact, when the megatsunamis ravaged the planet. She found his body. The sorrow from that awakened my mother's _Mangekyō Sharingan_.

"Around a year and a half before Second Impact, I met Joseph Langley, and 20 months later I gave birth to Asuka. Things were going well, with me and Yui and Tomoyo helping each other raise our kids. …Then the Contact Experiment happened. I lost my friend, my _sister_, that day, and gained my _Mangekyō _in the process. Five months later, I learned that Joseph was cheating on me. I didn't get to confront him because of how busy I was that day… the day I performed my Contact Experiment. You know the rest."

She let out a long, deep sigh. Tomoyo placed a hand on her shoulder.

"My mother did leave a powerful legacy behind" Kyōko continued. "She may have been only 15, but she was a Special Jōnin. A few years after arriving on this Earth, she took a few students. Eventually, those students took students, and so on & so forth…"

"Presently," Tomoyo said, "scattered across the globe, there are around 150 trained shinobi in this world." The dominatrix's body briefly flared with an aura of chakra. "I am one of them."

"I am too," Yui said, "but I'm afraid I'm not much of one. Kyōko-chan had only helped me cover the basics before the Contact Experiment took me out of the equation."

"M-Mom's a…" Mari's eyes were wide "a shinobi?"

"My mother would be proud to see how far we've come" Kyōko said. "Unfortunately, I haven't heard from her since shortly after Second Impact. SEELE was after her, so she had to go into hiding."

"She's still alive" Teana interjected. "We recently used a genealogy scrying to spell to chart my & Asuka's family tree. On the projected results, deceased members had their pictures grayed out and a line drawn through their names. Ren Uchiha-Sōryū's picture was in full color, and her name did not have a line through it. She still lives."

Kyōko's eyes lit up. "Mom's still alive?"

"We don't know where she is, though. I'm sorry."

"I say we just go about our lives and wait" Caboose spoke up. "In my experience, badass ladies seem to pop up and find _us _whenever we do that. …'Course, we also got two evil AIs, an evil time-twister guy, a friend turned enemy turned friend, and… whatever The Meta was, so…"

"We should probably try to contact the network of shinobi on this planet," Teana said, "let 'em know what's going on. We might be able to use their help."

"You guys go do that" Mari said, grinning as she pulled her four couch-mates close. "We're gonna stay cuddling like this for a little while longer."

Yui giggled. "Do it for as long as you guys want to, Mari-chan."

The next half-hour was spent relaxing and interacting. Eventually, Asuka was allowed up by Mari to get herself a glass of water. As she entered the kitchen, she found Erika and Caboose cooking something.

"Whatcha guys making?" she asked (slightly startling Erika).

"Weenie wraps!" Caboose happily replied.

"…Weenie wraps?"

"Y-Yeah" Erika replied. "Little h-hot dogs wrapped in croissants, with some cheese."

Asuka reached out and picked up one of the ones cooling on a plate. She took a bite.

"Mm… That's not bad… Pretty good, actually. Makin' enough for everybody?"

"Yeah, that's why we've got another batch baking" Caboose replied. "I've always liked cooking. It's one of the few things I can do without ever resulting in things catching on fire… Well, except for that one time, but that was Church's fault; he was carrying some grenades from one part of the base to the other, stopped to talk with me, and he accidentally set a grenade down on the stove. We… had to order a new stove."

"_Dude!_" Tucker, listening in over Caboose's accidentally-active TEAMCOM, cut in. "_That's__ why we had no stove for a week?-! Church told me the Reds sabotaged it to mess with us! What kind of idiot accidentally sets a __grenade__ down on an active __stove__?-!_"

"Well, at least something good came out of it" Blue Team's simple member replied. "The new stove had a built-in oven, so we could bake _and _cook!"

"…_Yeah, that cake we made to break in the new stove __was__ pretty damn good…_"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Groundside Base**

**October 13, 2015 – 1217 Hours**

The pilots, Mana, Tomoyo, Teana & Subaru, and Misato were relaxing in the common room; Mana, unable to bring herself to say no to the inexplicably-intimidating mother, was seated at Tomoyo's feet as the woman calmly ran a brush through the girl's hair, which was now almost to her shoulders due to Aqua and Ginga convincing her not to cut it "yet". Despite how girly it made her feel, Mana couldn't help but be relaxed by the gentle treatment, the feel of the brush running through her hair. Tomoyo let a smile form as she saw and felt the girl relax a little more.

Suddenly, the door opened, and through it came three people. The first two were quickly recognized as Agent Washington and Sarah, but the third was a newcomer: a young boy, in his mid-teens, with pale-silver hair and red eyes, as well as a friendly smile on his face.

"Who's that?" Teana asked.

"We met him outside the city, checking out the skyline" Sarah said.

"We won't have to worry about the Seventeenth Angel" Wash said.

"…That's an out-of-nowhere thing to say" Teana replied. "How come?"

"Because I have chosen to switch sides" the boy replied. "Unlike my more radical brethren, I can plainly see the intrinsic value you humans have – the potential for good, for advancement, for bettering the galaxy as a whole. My name is Tabris, the Seventeenth, Angel of Free Will. My name is Kaworu Nagisa. And I am henceforth on your side."

Everyone froze in shock.

"An… An Angel…" Asuka said. "A human-form Angel… who's switched sides… What."

"I have seen acts of kindness and charity carried out by you humans – children playing, men dropping their important tasks to help vehicle crash victims, a birthday, a wedding. And I've discovered your music – the works of your classical German composers are truly wondrous to behold. I can see the goodness inherent in humanity, where my brethren could not. They were blinded by the all-consuming drive that Father implanted in them. But I was born with free will, and with a human mind. I was given the ability to choose. At first, SEELE's lies convinced me that humanity had nothing going for it. But now I have seen the truth. And I have chosen to spare and aid humanity."

Nobody could think of anything to say for a while. Then, Teana spoke up: "Welcome to the group, Nagisa-san."

"I will, of course, assist in the deception against SEELE. They are dangerous men, Lilim of blackest hearts, and we must be careful in dealing with them."

"That is something we are in full agreement on."

"I'm gonna bring the kid to meet the Colonel, the Shipmaster, and Ikari & Sōryū" Wash said. "We'll see you guys later."

With that, the ex-Freelancer left, the human-form Angel following close behind. Once the shock wore off, everyone gradually went back to what they'd been doing.

A few minutes later, as Shinji was walking around just to keep his legs from falling asleep, he ran into Mana in a room off to the side. Her hair looked a little smoother and shinier, well tended to by Tomoyo. Still in a bit of a pacified mood thanks to the woman, she cleared her throat and blushed lightly as she and Shinji made eye contact.

"Y…" she stopped to try and contain the nervousness trying to seep into her voice. "You know how Mari, Asuka, and Rei have the hots for you, right?" she asked.

Shinji's cheeks flushed. "Y-Yeah. And I… remember how Mari said there were _four _girls…"

Mana's face went red as she worked up courage. "I… Shinji, I'm… the fourth… I'm the fourth of the girls who… h-has feelings for you."

"O-Oh…" his own blush deepened a little. "I… I see…"

"I'm… not good at this soft stuff; you know that by now. And I'm…" she swallowed nervously. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid of what… b-being in a relationship could do to me – if it might girl me up, weaken me…"

"I don't think any amount of girlifying could make you weak, Mana" he said with a warm smile, the sight of which made her blush a little more.

"I-I don't know…" She stepped closer to him. "B-But… I'm… I'm _more _afraid of… of what might happen if I _don't _take this chance, if I don't… l-let myself be… one of… your girls…"

"I…" he looked at the insecurity in those beautiful blue eyes, and his mind was made up. "I'd be happy to have you as one of my girls, Mana."

She gasped, and then her face went positively red as she turned her head down and to the side, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. "O-Okay" she whispered.

She leaned in close, as he gently reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, turning her head to face him. Heart pounding, she closed her eyes, leaned in, and kissed him. She felt as his arms went around her, holding her close, and hers came up to do the same. She tried to take the dominant role in the kiss, only for Shinji, being unusually bold, to 'press the attack'. Mana whimpered and then swooned as he held her in such an amazing way; she found herself leaning into him, and was dimly aware that her foot was popping up.

Just for this, just for Shinji, when it was only the two of them, she could be a little girly.

In another side room, Asuka and Mari sat together on a soft, small couch.

"You sure you can handle it?" Mari asked. "Sharing Shinji with me, Rei, and Mana, I mean."

"…Yeah" Asuka replied. "I've thought long and hard on it, and… my answer is yes. …Goodness knows the _baka _needs more than one woman to keep him on track…"

Mari giggled. "And… I've caught you checking me out, staring at me. And I can tell you enjoy my company now just as much as his."

Asuka's face went pink, and she nodded. "Y-You're really pretty, Mari. And you're patient with me, with my… problems."

"Of course," Mari continued, "I probably won't be satisfied with _just _hanging out with you. You know what I mean, right?"

"…Uh-huh."

"Well… Let's see how you handle it. Come here, Asuka."

The redhead soon found herself being embraced closely by the taller, more developed girl, breasts pressing together and faces close. She gasped lightly as one of Mari's hands rested on the back of her head, the other around her waist and holding her close. Mari had removed her glasses just before grabbing her, and now she stared into Asuka's eyes with a warm smile on her face. Asuka felt hot all over, as Mari's face slowly drew closer. The redhead found herself closing her eyes and leaning in to bridge the gap, as Mari's lips captured hers.

Asuka felt that same wonderful, beautiful warmth that kissing Shinji had given her now flowing through her body from being kissed by Mari. After a few seconds, Mari's tongue easily slipped into Asuka's mouth, claiming her; Asuka let out a mewl as she accepted it, tilting her head back to allow easier access. Asuka's arms' grip on Mari tightened while the rest of her basically went limp in the other girl's embrace.

After about a minute, the two broke apart, panting. "So…" Mari purred. "Think you can get used to that?"

"Mneh?" was Asuka's reply, hazy with pleasure. "Y-Yesh. More, please~."

Mari gladly obliged, capturing Asuka's lips again, lightly suckling on the girl's tongue while one hand slid down and cupped her shapely, soft ass and the other gently ran through her red hair.

Inside her thoughts, Mari giggled with joy. 'My little Asuka swoons just like Shinji! How adorable~!'

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next time: the beginning of the end, as SEELE at last gets involved.


	9. Preparation

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**NERV – Command Center**

**October 19, 2015 – 1140 Hours**

Nearly a week passed without incident. Kaworu, Yui, and Kyōko got integrated, Ritsuko took a surprised but very happy Maya out to dinner and got to know her better, and the quintet continued to bond. Tests revealed that the Evangelions would still function even without the souls in their Cores; the Evas had their own intelligences, lesser than that of a human's but independent of the Core-souls, and said intelligences had come to care for their pilots.

Yui was standing in the command center, at her now-ex-husband's old post; Fuyutsuki stood on one side of her, Kyōko on the other. Things looked to be nice and calm.

"Ma'am!"

A UNSC soldier from the _Starshot _ran in. "Ma'am!" he said. "We've confirmed a Malevolent Extra-Planar Entity attack, and they've got human collaborators!"

"Where?" Yui asked. "We haven't seen anything on the city's scanners."

"They're not attacking Tokyo-3, ma'am. They're in a restricted area in Germany; they're attacking Kihl Lorenz and SEELE!"

"What?-! Oh, damn it! We've been so careful to keep the Old Men from finding out about everything! We've bought so much time!"

"It seems our time's run out, ma'am. The attacking forces are vastly insufficient to breach SEELE Headquarters' defenses; SEELE's defenses are already devastating them. If the Old Men capture any of the human collaborators and manage to interrogate them…"

"We need to start preparing for the worst" Fuyutsuki said.

"I'll talk to Wash" Kyōko said. "Knowing him, he probably has, like, three different contingency plans for something like this…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**A lake outside Tokyo-3**

**Same Day - 1850 Hours (Japan Time)**

Kaworu Nagisa hummed a portion of "Ode to Joy" to himself as he stood on the lakeside, staring out over the beautiful water that reflected the setting sun. Any minute now, SEELE would call up a council to speak with him. He'd been informed of what had happened, and would now have to wait & see what had ended up taking place.

Sure enough, the light around Kaworu faded, and the holographic images of 12 huge black moonlights, numbered 01 to 12, appeared encircling him.

"_Nagisa_" Lorenz, 01, said. "_Explain. Now_."

"Explain what, Mr. Lorenz?" Kaworu asked. "My progress report to you is not due for another-"

"_Don't play ignorant with me, __**Tabris**_" Kihl snapped. "_The human collaborator we captured aiding those Demons told us __**everything**__, with solid proof – their masters, the… multi-species coalition, the other realms, Agent Washington's dangerous knowledge and interference, Ikari having recently been deposed by coalition personnel… and __**you **__betraying us because of their influence._"

"…Your prisoner was incorrect on that, Mr. Lorenz. I had chosen to betray you and protect humanity **before **the coalition came to me. I have seen the goodness, kindness, and potential humanity has to offer; reality disproved the lies you told me."

"_Be that as it may, the Scenario has been left in far greater jeopardy than ever._"

"More than that" Col. Holland said as he stepped into the circle, appearing to the SEELE Council. "Your 'Scenario' is doomed, as it has been since we arrived."

"Your mad plans for species-wide annihilation are through" Zhal Arum said as he stepped in. "We stand in your way… and we shall not yield."

"_What makes you think you could stop us, xeno?_" asked Number 04.

Holland smirked. "Because we have several minds at our beck & call who know you bastards and your Scenario quite well… well enough to help stop it. In fact…"

He nodded to someone out of view, and then shock reigned as they stepped in.

"Hello, 'gentlemen'" Yui said, Kyōko standing at her side. "Long time, no see."

There was a sudden gasping, struggling sound. After several seconds, Number 06's monolith went silent and dark.

"Guess I was too much for the old fatass' heart" Yui murmured.

"_H-How…_" Number 02 muttered. "_How is this possible?-!_"

"We have our ways" Col. Holland replied. "Suffice to say, we have access to several powerful individuals with a myriad of unique abilities, as well as very advanced alien technology. …Though I can at least confess that freeing these two and giving them new bodies was _not _easy – the technology that had to be constructed for the purpose, and the amount of magical energy that was expended…"

"…_It will not last_" Kihl finally spoke up again. "_The Scenario __will__ continue, and all threats to it __will__ fall. It is time we take a more… direct role in things…_"

The 11 monoliths faded away, returning the group to the sunset lakeside.

"Well, that went better than expected" Kyōko quipped.

**-**_Mini-Break_-

An hour later, everyone convened at the coalition's groundside base.

"Attention" Delta said as he appeared from the main table's holo-projector. "Theta, Epsilon-Alpha, Jerrod, and I have successfully infiltrated SEELE's primary computer network."

"What did you find, D?" York asked.

"In the wake of our foiling of their attempted hack of the MAGI, they are preparing a full-scale military assault on the city. It will take them at least two days to finish preparations and begin their assault."

"Two days?" Asuka said. "That's all we have?"

"Excluding today, yes; they will likely make their attack on the 22nd."

"The _Starshot _can deploy a full city-scale defensive force in just eight hours" Col. Holland replied. "We should be fine. Still, we should begin evacuating the civilians as soon as possible."

"Leave coordinating the evac to me" Fuyutsuki replied. "Katsuragi, if you would be so kind as to assist me in that…"

"Of course, sir" the Major replied.

"Hey, where's Tia?" Sarah asked. "I haven't seen her all day."

"She said she had something important to do" Church replied as his avatar popped up. "Someone to find; she went up north. I've transmitted info on what's going on to her & Mirage, though."

"Actually, she has just returned to this facility" Delta, monitoring the external sensors, said. "And she has company."

"_Tadaimasu_" Teana could be heard calling out.

The young redhead soon entered the meeting room, followed by a newcomer.

"Who's she?" Mana asked.

The woman looked old, though she had aged well – despite a little grey in her red hair, and a few wrinkles, she still looked lovely. She was a little shorter than Teana. Cool blue eyes widened as they focused on Kyōko, who in turn all-but-ran up to the woman.

"Mother!" Kyōko cried as she embraced the woman, who tearfully held her thought-lost daughter.

"Everyone who doesn't know her already, meet Ren Uchiha-Sōryū" Teana said.

Varying degrees of shock went out amongst some of the room's occupants. As mother and daughter broke apart, Ren caught sight of young Asuka, who was staring at her.

"So this beautiful young girl is my granddaughter…" Ren said with a soft, regal voice.

"Asuka…" Kyōko said sweetly. "Come and meet your grandma."

The young redhead slowly, cautiously walked up to Ren, who looked down at her and smiled.

"Gramma…?" Asuka asked in a small voice.

Ren reached out and laid a hand on Asuka's shoulder. In response, the girl moved in and hugged her, an embrace that the proud grandmother happily returned. Kyōko joined the hug, and they stayed like that for a few minutes, three generations in one hug. After they broke apart, Ren turned to the others.

"I assume you've been informed?" Col. Holland asked.

"Yes" Ren replied. "Teana-chan told me everything. Never thought my return to duty would come… Not that I'm upset about it; once a shinobi, always a shinobi."

"Okay" the Colonel said. "We have a plan, people. Let's make it happen."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Groundside Base**

**Same Day – 2105 Hours**

He was walking through the base, heading for the common room, when a voice rang out from one of the side rooms as he passed it by.

"Shinji?" Mari's voice said. "Could you come in here for a moment, please?"

Curious, the young boy entered the room, to find Mari, Mana, Asuka, and Rei all sitting on a bed together; Asuka and Mana looked quite nervous, Rei didn't look too much better, and even the strong and confident Mari had a bit of a blush on her cheeks. Mari gestured for him to close the door behind him, and he did so.

"W-What's this about?" Shinji asked.

"We don't have much time left before the big fight against SEELE" Mari said. "We've got tonight, tomorrow, and the day after. …Shinji, you know that all four of us love you, right?"

He blushed, but couldn't stop the happy little smile from forming on his face. "Yeah. And I… I love you girls, too."

Mari blushed and smiled. "Do you… remember, from the data recordings, what Nodoka, Yue, and Ahsoka did with Negi right when their big climactic battles were approaching?"

His face slowly went red as he got what she was implying. "Y-Yes" he answered quietly.

"We may not have much time left, Shinji. We should have no regrets when the big showdowns start. …It would've been nice if each of us got a full romantic day with you to ourselves, but we don't have that kinda time. But we're still gonna… enjoy ourselves and each other, and you."

"I…" Asuka squeaked out, clearing her throat. "I-I'm first" she said, looking Shinji in the eye, her face as red as his. "T-Tonight. You and me, Shinji-_baka_. We'll… become each other's."

"Asuka will 'have you' tonight and tomorrow morning" Mari said. "After that, I'll spend a good handful of hours of the day being your lover. Tomorrow night and the morning after, Rei gets you, while I have lots of special fun with Asuka."

The redhead's face flushed.

"Midday of the 21st is Mana's turn. That last night, we'll all five of us have some special group lovin'. Oh, and don't worry about running out of energy. Between some restorative magic and your own youthful stamina, you should have plenty of fuel and fire to have that which you desire."

Shinji gulped nervously, filled with equal parts fear and anticipation, the former slowly fading away. "O-Okay" he said. "I'm looking forward to… giving myself to all of you."

"Excellent~. Now, come here. Girls, come closer, too. It's group hug time."

Soon the five were in what Mari cheerfully dubbed a "cuddle puddle", enjoying each other's presence and warmth. In the middle of the five-way hug, Asuka gave Shinji a kiss, throwing both her arms around him as she felt Mari's hands cupping her breasts from behind while pressing her own larger ones against the redhead's back. As Mana held onto Shinji from behind, she found herself being embraced from the back by Rei, the sheltered blue-haired girl having quickly grown to love this thing called 'hugs'.

"If things go bad a few days from now, it's the end of the world as we know it," Mari said, "so let's feel fine."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Katsuragi-Ikari-Sōryū Residence – Shinji's Bedroom**

**October 20, 2015 – 0745 Hours**

Shinji awoke to a wonderful feeling of content comfort. He was quickly aware of the warm, nude body laying on top of his, and his face flushed a little as he remembered everything that had happened yesterday, especially last night. He looked down, and there was Asuka, still asleep and using his chest as a pillow. Right now she was the most beautiful and adorable thing he had ever seen, breathing softly with a cute little smile on her face. He reached a hand up to softly stroke her hair, and she stirred. Her blue eyes slowly opened, and her cheeks went pink as she realized her position and remembered last night, but her smile remained and even grew a little as she moved up so that her head was lying on the pillow next to his.

"My _baka_" she murmured happily as she hugged him. "Mine. And the other girls' too, but right now mine."

"You're so pretty when you're genuinely happy, Asuka" he said with a smile.

She giggled. "I'm _always _pretty, Shinji. But thank you."

They both let out a content sigh as they held each other, gazing into each other's eyes for a bit before closing them and cuddling closer. She smiled as she felt a poke against her thigh.

"Your wonderful little friend's just as glad to wake up next to me as you are" she whispered with a grin. "We're both awake now, and we've got a little time before we need to get out of bed and head to the shower. I'm pretty sure the Silencing Spell _nee-san _cast around this room for us is still active."

"What shall we do, my randy, rambunctious redhead?"

"Y'know that… one position we did where I'm laying on my front with my hips propped up by a pillow, and then you…"

He smiled as he grabbed the spare pillow leaning against the side of the bed. "Indeed I do, Asuka. Indeed I do."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Horaki Residence**

**0835 Hours**

Hikari Horaki hustled about, helping her father and sisters pack their things for the city-wide evacuation. She couldn't help but worry; Shinji and Asuka would be staying to defend the city from… whatever it was that was coming. Rumor had it that it wasn't another Angel coming to attack the city, but a hostile human faction out to kill everyone at NERV and anyone who got in their way.

Hikari heard a bored sigh from her little eight-year-old sister Kodama, presently sulking in a chair near the door. Ever since she'd bolted from the relative safety of that school bus during those things' attack and almost gotten killed, the rest of the family had made sure that she was never more than a handful of meters away from at least one of them at all times. Kodama was already done packing her things, and dad & big-sister Nozomi were busy helping elsewhere, so the little girl had to sit and do nothing in Hikari's room while the young teen packed.

"Are you done yet~?" the girl whined. "I'm losing my mind here!"

"You wouldn't have to sit here bored if you hadn't disobeyed the teacher and almost gotten killed" Hikari replied. "We're gonna be watching you all the time until you've earned back the trust you lost."

"And how long will that take?"

"A few weeks, maybe a month or two."

The girl let out a long, loud, anguished groan in response.

"And if you ever do something like that again, then next time Nozomi-_neechan_ & I will keep you confined to your room for a week and treat you just like a helpless little baby, complete with dressing you for the part, and after that we'll keep you on one of those little-kid leashes whenever you're out & about. So you'd better behave and be safe if you don't want that."

The little girl gulped nervously. "Y-Yes, ma'am."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Groundside Coalition Base – Guest Bedroom (Locked, Soundproofed)**

**Same Day – 1405 Hours**

Mari collapsed atop Shinji, letting out little twitches as 'aftershocks' ran through her, the two of them panting for breath. That was their third time in 45 minutes (excluding the considerable foreplay) and she still felt as raring to go again as ever; thankfully, so did he, as long as he got a minute's rest after each one. She let out a purring moan as she stretched out over him, her bare breasts sticking out in his face as she arched her back in a stretch; she let out a gasp as he took the offered opportunity.

"J-Just like I told the others" she said breathily. "I _knew _you'd be g-AH! …g-good with your fingers…"

Her expression changed to a near-delirious grin as her new lover's ministrations continued; she sat up, straddling him, and he followed, never letting go. She grinned mischievously as the hand she had wrapped around him went low, seeking something.

Shinji gasped, his lips coming away from their target. "M-M-Mari!" he squeaked. "A… A f-finger's not supposed to go there!"

"Ee-hee-hee…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**NERV – Commander's Office**

**Same Day – 2155 Hours**

Yui yawned as she continued to pour over data and reports, fighting a little to keep her eyes open. She startled a bit as something was set down on her new desk: a nice, steaming hot cup of coffee. She looked up at the man responsible, presently in plainclothes.

"Thanks, Mr. McCormick" she said.

"No problem" Agent Washington replied. "All due respect, ma'am, I _really _think you should get some sleep. You've been working at this shit since 4:30 in the morning. Delegate it to one of our people for a while; a lot of the _Starshot_'s ONI personnel are night owls, anyway."

"I know I shouldn't do that…" Yui said. "But I'm sorely tempted enough that I'm probably gonna anyway. What news from the front, Captain?"

"The civilian evacuation is proceeding as planned; nothing more than a few minor hiccups that were quickly smoothed out. Once the city is clear, we'll bring down our full forces for a defense. Also, Shipmaster Arum's trying to see if one of the coalition's other ships can come over and bolster our defenses."

"Trying?"

"A lot of our ships and personnel are busy – strengthening homeworld defenses, patrolling for pirates, rooting out 'small' Demon nests, giving 'Emperor' Mengsk and the Tal'darim Remnant some trouble in Raynor's dimension…"

"I see. Well, here's hoping. How you holding up, Wash?"

"So far, so good. I'm helping go over the city layout, coming up with a battle plan. The higher-ups are handling most of it, but apparently I'm good enough that they're frequently requesting my advice."

"Just don't overwork yourself. …And now I'm a hypocrite for saying that."

He let out a light chuckle.

-_Mini-Break_-

**Same Time**

**Katsuragi-Ikari-Sōryū Residence**

Rei lay back in Shinji's bed, gasping for breath as she came down from her third climax of the night. Shinji was on his hands & knees over her, slightly out of breath, and smiling down at her. Shinji had so far learned three things. One: Rei was very sensitive. Two: Rei was very big on cuddling and being hugged while doing the deed. Three: when it wasn't being used in a dull monotone, Rei's voice was beautiful, and the noises she made when being pleasured were adorable.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, hair disheveled, a wonderful smile on her flushed face. "Shinji~" she cooed, wrapping her arms around him again. "Please, more~."

Grinning, he obliged, turning her over onto her stomach and grabbing the second pillow.

In Asuka's room, the redhead was twitching and moaning lightly as she came down from her fourth of the night. Mari licked her fingers & lips clean and then crawled up, getting face-to-face with the blushing redhead, pressing their breasts together.

"My pretty little Asuka" she whispered lovingly. "You make such cute noises."

"H-Hey…" the redhead replied shakily. "Y-You've given me… f-four already, and I've only given you o-one. That's not fair."

She punctuated this by grinding her leg between Mari's, making the taller and more buxom girl gasp and moan. Mari then grinned down at her partner.

"Okay, you foxy little thing. Let's have some more fun together~."

-_Mini-Break_-

**Same Time**

**Akagi Residence**

Ritsuko breathed deeply, relaxing and feeling more content than she had in a while. She had a hand softly stroking the hair of Maya, who was presently sleeping with her head between her beloved _senpai_'s breasts.

'That…' she thought 'was a _hundred _times more enjoyable than Gendō. I _love _being the dominant one for a change… And she's a hell of a lot kinder and cuter than that old asshole, too.'

"Mmm…" Maya murmured in her sleep. "Ritsuko-senpai~…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**October 21, 2015 – 1235 Hours**

All across the city, coalition armaments, troops, and vehicles were moved to & fro, setting up defensive positions, field command posts, sniper nests, vehicle depots, ammo repositories, combat drones, and everything else needed for a city defense operation. Dropships ferried troops and supplies between the _Starshot _and Tokyo-3, and word had recently been received that the Sangheili Alliance _Purity_-class destroyer _Shining Ember _would soon arrive and further bolster the defense.

All of this mattered little, however, to a pair of teens in a soundproofed bedroom in the coalition's groundside base. Shinji, having done this with three different girls in the past 36 hours, was only a little bit on edge; Mana, in contrast, was a bundle of nerves.

"I just, I mean…" Mana was stammering. "I want this. _God_, do I ever want this. But I'm also… t-terrified of it. I-I've been lucky so far, with the group cuddles and the spa treatment. By some miracle, they haven't made me girlier or weaker. But… this… To actually… h-have sex, to have you… inside me, Shinji… That would be the ultimate acknowledgement of me as a… a girl. And… I'm completely terrified of what that'll do to me. If my… f-first ever orgasm, like, drains me of my toughness, if I wake up tomorrow and all my courage and fire is gone, and I'm just some helpless girly-girl who c-cries at the drop of a hat and can't fight and is completely worthless… I'm scared, Shinji. I love you, and I want you so badly, but I'm really, really scared."

"You don't have to be scared" Shinji replied, smiling. "That stuff won't happen to you." He moved in close, resting one hand on her side.

"If… If it does, and I end up some weak, helpless, frilly little girl… W… W-Will you protect me?" she whimpered.

"I promise that you won't lose who you are" he replied, a hand softly stroking her cheek. "But I promise that I'll protect you regardless. So… for the next few hours… will you let your defenses down, and let me make you enjoy being a girl?"

"…Yes" she whispered. "Yes, I will. I'll… Just for you… I'll be your cute little girly-girl… Shinji"

She kissed him, and when he kissed back she found herself quickly relinquishing the lead to him. She let him slowly push her down onto the bed, and when his hands cupped her breasts she happily accepted the pleasure.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Tokyo-3**

**October 22, 2015 – 1300 Hours**

It was almost time. Everyone was ready; vehicles of war were on standby, artillery and snipers set up, troops dispersed, traps set. The _Starshot _and the _Shining Ember _hovered several hundred meters over the city, their point-defense guns ready; inside the two ships, fighter wings and MEDEVAC dropships were on standby. The Evangelions were prepped and ready for launch; the pilots were aboard and full of energy (despite the wonderfully exhausting night that the five teens had experienced together in the five-way last night). Gamma, Sigma, Theta, Lancer, and Blood-Gulch Teams were ready, as were the mages of the Bureau.

"_This is ONI Recon 111 to all forces_" a man's calm voice said over the force-wide comm. channel. "_Hostile armor and aircraft detected, north-by-northwest, 18 kilometers and closing._"

"_Solid copy, Recon_" the _Starshot_'s comms technician replied. "_We have them on scanners. More approaching from north-by-southwest._"

"_This is it, everyone_" Col. Holland said. "_Fight hard, and hold them back. They __will not__ take this city!_"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next time: The Battle of Tokyo-3


	10. The Battle of Tokyo-3

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Tokyo-3**

**October 22, 2015 – 1310 Hours**

The first sign the SEELE-controlled JSSDF 1st Division got that things were gonna be harder than they anticipated was a barrage of indirect fire from the Siege-Tank and Wraith mortar tanks strategically positioned throughout and around the city. Two-dozen troops, three tanks, and a helicopter gunship were brought down by lucky hits. The coalition then cut their barrage and did nothing, so as to make the enemy think the barrage was all they had, luring them in closer to the city.

And then, the coalition forces attacked with gusto. Several hostile helicopters began falling from the sky, shot down by SAMs, a few lucky/accurate tank-cannon hits, and a Spartan Laser or two. However, a decent amount of enemy soldiers managed to deploy inside the city, and immediately engaged the coalition forces. SEELE/JSSDF tanks engaged coalition armor, and their helicopters and jets arrived; in response, fighters scrambled from the _Starshot _and the _Shining Ember_.

The battle was in full swing.

-_Mini-Break_-

Another enemy tank went up in flames as heavy cannon-fire hit it. Mana cheered from within the cockpit of the Thor she was piloting – a gift to the _Starshot _from Raynor's Raiders. The SEELE/JSSDF soldiers broke and ran.

"Run all you want!" she shouted. "You'll only die tired!"

A hostile soldier with a rocket launcher got behind the Thor, aiming at its underside… and, before he could fire it, got shredded by machinegun fire from one of the two UNSC Mantises accompanying the Thor.

"Fuck yeah!" Grif cheered from within the Mantis as he fired a trio of rockets, taking out an enemy APC. "This thing is awesome!"

-_Mini-Break_-

The force of SEELE-controlled JSSDF soldiers, escorting a column of tanks, stopped as they heard a loud *thud*. Then another. And another. They stared up at what emerged from behind a nearby hill.

It wasn't an Evangelion, but it was just as big. And, judging by how the tanks' guns barely scratched its armor, just as tough. And when the Scarab's primary plasma beam cannon fired, melting three of the tanks, the soldiers realized they were just as screwed.

-_Mini-Break_-

"_Ground HQ to Starshot Command, we have visual on multiple high-altitude aircraft, large. Can you confirm?_"

"_Ground HQ, this is Command. We have visual confirmation of 12 high-altitude transport aircraft inbound over the city. Stand by… They've dislodged their cargo. Taking a closer look… Descending targets match the profile of _White Vulture_-class Mass-Production Evangelions, Units 06 through 17. They're coming in fast, and we can't hit them with our point-defense guns without risking a missed shot hitting our forces in the city. Recommend you have our Eva pilots scramble._"

The four allied Evangelions ascended up to the surface. Less than a minute later, the 12 massive, avian Mass-Pro Evangelions landed, powered by S2 Engines and piloted by Dummy Plugs. Eyeless faces stared at the four defenders, grinning with huge mouths full of teeth.

"Ugly sons of bitches, aren't they?" Asuka said.

"Remember what Wash told us about these things" Shinji said. "They can continue functioning after taking amounts of damage that would kill a normal Evangelion, and those huge swords of theirs can transform into replica Longinus Lances that can punch through our AT Fields. Be careful, girls."

"Same to you, Shinji" Mari replied. "We just got you; we don't wanna lose you yet."

"They are preparing to attack" Rei pointed out, as two of the Mass-Pros went high for an aerial attack, and four more went to the sides in an attempt to flank.

"Let's put these things down!" Shinji said as Eva-01 drew its knife.

-_Mini-Break_-

"_Schlangenforme_"

The bladed-whip form of Levantine slashed across several SEELE-employed soldiers, cutting them down. Signum retracted the weapon to its basic blade form, and then rolled under a burly soldier's attempt to tackle her from the side, bashing him in the face with the hilt of her Device and then drawing her M6C sidearm, putting three rounds into the stunned enemy. Nearby, she heard the firing of a Sangheili concussion rifle, as Erohn Kilkar added to his kill count.

Fate flew overhead, blasting tanks from above. One JSSDF sniper on a rooftop had a bead on her as she briefly hovered in place to observe something, only to be interrupted by a supersonic 14.5mm APFSDS round punching through his skull, courtesy of Agent North Dakota around 850 meters away. Commander Cody drove a Warthog through the streets, Captain Rex manning the chaingun and using it to mow down enemy infantry. A squadron of Banshees performed a strafing run, taking down several enemy soldiers and an APC.

A Wraith exploded, killing its pilot, as it took a direct hit to the lightly-armored backside from a JSSDF tank… which was seconds later destroyed by a well-placed Spartan Laser hit. Near one forward command center, several enemy soldiers died in pretty pink explosions, as Yayap and Erika used their Needlers to thin the herd. A pair of Protoss Immortals helped guard the coalition's primary groundside base; few hostiles had gotten past the multiple defensive positions between the primary SEELE positions and the base, and those that did were quickly shredded by the heavily-shielded walkers' directed-energy autocannons.

-_Mini-Break_-

Unit-02's Eva-scale axe bit deep into Mass-Pro-07's side, and Asuka then yanked it out to the side, red blood spraying out of the jagged wound as the beast stumbled. MP-11 tried to attack her from behind, only to be clothes-lined by Unit-05, who then stomped down hard on its neck. MP-14 rushed at Unit-00, aiming to get close enough to render the blue Evangelion's signature sniper rifle impractical… only for Rei to draw her newest weapon from its position slung across her Eva's back: an Evangelion-scale shotgun. With a deafening boom, she took the off-guard MP-Eva's left arm off, and then another shot blew its head open, the white titan toppling over backward. Just to be sure, she stood atop it and fired two shells into its upper chest cavity.

Unit-01 stabbed MP-09 in the head and took its massive blade, and then entered a duel against MP-13, the two huge swords letting out loud clangs as they clashed. Finally, Shinji managed to gain the upper hand, knocking MP-13 off balance for long enough to strike downward, the blade cutting deep into the White Vulture's shoulder and torso. He hit something vital, and the massive construct dropped to the ground. MP-06 then tackled Unit-01, pinning it to the ground, its huge jaws snapping at the purple Eva's face. Suddenly, a roundhouse kick from Unit-02 knocked the vicious Mass-Pro away, and the crimson Eva then helped 01 back to its feet.

"These bastards are pretty vicious" Mari said as Unit-05 and Unit-00 walked over to 01 and 02. "They keep coming regardless of danger."

"And it appears that Agent Washington's warning was accurate" Rei said. "Look; the injured ones are getting to their feet."

Sure enough, they were… well, most of them.

"Hey, why aren't 13 and 14 getting back up?" Asuka asked.

"Rei blasted 14 in the chest with a giant shotgun," Shinji replied, "and I cut deep into 13's torso. But I don't see… how…"

He trailed off, and ran over to check 13's body, using his Evangelion's hands to grip the edges of the wound and pry them open, looking inside. Sure enough, there was a large red-orange device, dim and grayed and cut halfway through. He then looked at 14's prone body, and where the Eva-scale shotgun blast had hit.

"Of course… Of course!" he said. "I've got it! I know how to take them down and make sure they _stay _down!"

"Really?" Asuka asked. "How?"

"Rei's _coup de grace_ ripped through MP-14's Dummy Plug, and my attack fatally damaged MP-13's S2 Engine. That's how we do it! If we destroy their Dummy Plugs and/or their S2 Engines, they'll go down for the count!"

"…Why did I not think of that?" Rei murmured as she realized the plain-as-day soundness of Shinji's plan. "That will most certainly work!"

"All right, Shinji!" Mari cheered. "Those analytical skills you inherited from your parents are finally gettin' to shine!"

As the 10 remaining MP-Evas, six of them bearing various levels of damage, growled and gripped their blades, the four NERV Evangelions readied themselves for Round 2.

Suddenly, there was a flash of red light. The massive sword in Eva-01's hands vanished, and the original Lance of Longinus teleported into his grip. The huge red spear shifted and twisted, shortening to half its length and transforming into a long, thin, elegant-looking sword. The pilot looked at it with awe, but then nodded; he'd gotten used to accepting magical weirdness by this point.

"Alright, girls" Shinji said confidently as Eva-01 gripped its new blade. "We have our targets. Let's clip the wings of these oversized buzzards!"

(MUSIC: _Dragon Ball Z – The Return of Cooler _– that rockin' music that plays when Piccolo, Krillin, & Gohan discover how to kill the Cyclops Drones and start kicking ass)

Shinji ran forward, Unit-01's feet pounding the earth as he closed in on MP-08. He dodged the beast's cumbersome swing and stabbed forward with the Longinus Weapon, piercing through its chest… and its S2 Core. For a few seconds, there was nothing, as neither moved. Then, MP-08's S2 Engine exploded in a burst of light and smoke, blowing 08's torso open. As the ruined construct toppled to the ground, the unharmed Eva-01 rushed through the smoke at MP-11, and a swing of the blade took the White Vulture's right arm off at the elbow.

Units 00, 02, and 05 charged, picking their targets. Asuka rolled under a horizontal blade swing and, using the momentum of her spin, buried her axe head deep into MP-15's upper back, taking out the Dummy Plug. MP-15 collapsed to the ground, inert, as Unit-02 yanked the blade out and then made a downward swing and split MP-12's head in two vertically. Unit-05 knocked several of MP-09's teeth out with a heavy punch, and then lashed out with a kick that broke MP-16's leg and knocked it over onto its front; she then planted her foot on its back and fired her Eva-scale assault rifle down between its shoulder-blades, shredder rounds piercing and destroying the Dummy Plug.

Unit-00 engaged MP-Units 07 and 17, Rei applying some of the moves she'd learned from her new allies/friends. She bashed MP-17 in the head with the butt of her shotgun, stunning it, and then dodged MP-07's blade attack, drawing her Eva-scale sniper rifle and placing the barrel against 07's chest. She fired, the supersonic projectile punching through 07's body, destroying its Dummy Plug, and out the other end, leaving a wound in 17's chest. She then rushed at MP-17, sticking the barrel of her Eva-scale shotgun into the wound and firing. The super-sized shotgun blast destroyed the S2 Engine with a burst of smoke and fire.

Shinji willed the Longinus Weapon to shift to its Spear Form, and he went at MP-06 wielding it like a quarterstaff, unleashing a series of punishing blows that kept the beast wounded and stunned. Then, with a rising stab, he jammed the two prongs of the weapon through the Mass-Pro's chest, destroying its S2 Engine and its Dummy Plug in one stroke. Unit-01 then threw the spear at MP-11, piercing its S2 Engine and causing another blast as another White Vulture died; the Lance then returned itself to Unit-01's hands.

MP-12, despite its bisected head, continued to try and attack Unit-02. Asuka responded with an axe swing that bit deep into its torso, and when she pulled the weapon away she could faintly make out the now-exposed S2 Engine. She drew her Eva's pistol, and five close-range rounds took down yet another Mass-Pro. Without missing a beat, she then threw her axe, burying it into the side of MP-09's head as it tried to leap onto Unit-00 from behind, knocking it off course. Rei grabbed the handle of the axe, wrenched it free, and then buried it into MP-09's upper back and Dummy Plug.

Unit-05 wrestled with MP-10, each Evangelion trying to strangle the other. However, Mari managed to get her Eva's pistol free; she brought it up under the Mass-Pro's chin and fired, the round punching up through it skull, stunning it. She then threw it off of her, got up, kicked it onto its front, and unloaded the gun's magazine into its upper back, the last three shots taking out the Dummy Plug.

It was over. SEELE's trump card – the dozen catalysts/casters needed for their plan to forcibly "deify" Unit-01 – had been destroyed. Panicking, the mysterious organization immediately ordered a full retreat of their forces (who, having gotten bogged down by the defenses and were steadily being ground away, were happy to follow the order). The coalition forces harassed them all the way, killing some and capturing a few more, including a trio of important-looking ones.

Soon, the city was clear – the Battle of Tokyo-3 was over. Coalition forces began tending to the wounded and counting the dead, as well as moving the handful of captured enemy personnel to dedicated holding areas.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

_**Starshot **_**– Aft Brig**

**October 22, 2015 – 1950 Hours**

Teana Uchiha-Lanstar scowled at the three men that they had in specially-designed chambers. These three were confirmed to be high-level SEELE operatives, placed with the JSSDF assault force to oversee the organization's goals. Now, they were each held in a trio of bare rooms, separated by durable "transparisteel", a material from Ahsoka's home galaxy. They had been stripped of anything & everything except their underwear, and placed in these empty, fairly brightly-lit special chambers for interrogation.

Teana walked up to the microphone. "Hello, gentlemen" she said, her voice being relayed through speakers in each of the three chambers. The men looked around, quickly catching sight of her, and looked a bit startled that she was so young, though the icy glare on her face was plainly evident. "I'm going to be asking you three some questions. If you want to live, you'll give me the answers I desire."

"And if we refuse?" the man in the middle chamber said. "If we don't tell you anything, little girl?"

Teana's scowl deepened. "Those three chambers you men are in have been gradually pressurized to 8.5 times normal atmospheric pressure. If none of you three talk, I will pick one of you at random and instantly depressurize your chamber to normal atmospheric pressure; the split-second pressure gradient will literally make you explode. If the two remainders still don't talk, I'll select one of them and lower the pressure in their room fast enough to be painfully fatal but not fast enough to be instant. If the last alive _still _doesn't talk, I'll _increase _the pressure until it crushes them.

"So… Let's talk. We'll start with me asking you boys where exactly SEELE's primary bases of operations are, and the strength of their defenses."

"Fuck off, brat" the man in the left chamber, oldest of the three, snapped. "We will not betray the Council for anything. Besides, regardless of how tough you act, there's no way a cute little girl like you, who looks barely old enough to drive, could possibly have the stomach to-"

Glaring at the man, Teana pressed a button, dropping the left-most chamber's atmospheric pressure from 8.5atm to 1atm in an instant. The man's eyes widened a split-second before he violently exploded; blood, bone fragments, and bits of organs went in all directions, painting the floor and splattering against the transparisteel walls. His head, blown in half and blown open, landed on its side, facing the other two men, the eyes having ruptured. The two other men looked upon the scene with pure terror, faces going pale. Then Teana cleared her throat, smirked at the men, and her fingers hovered, wiggling, over the other two buttons.

"Okay! Okay! We'll talk! We'll talk!" the men cried out in terror, shouting to be heard over each other.

"Good" Teana smiled. "I knew you'd see reason."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Groundside Base**

**October 22, 2015 – 1802 Hours**

Mana Kirishima sat on a bed in a dim-lighted room, lost in thought. She startled as she felt a hand on her shoulder, but relaxed as she looked up and saw Mari, who then sat down next to her on the bed.

"I was right from the start" Mari said with a smile. "About you."

"What do you mean?"

"You were wrong and I was right about believing that you could do girly things and still be badass. We took you to the spa and got you the full girlish pampering treatment, you let yourself be kissed by Shinji with him the dominant one, you wore a skirt that one afternoon, you had sex with Shinji, and last night we four took you up to the highest peak of feminine pleasure. And not only did you _not _lose your fire or your courage or your ability to fight effectively or take care of yourself, today you kicked ass more than ever. …I'd say, looking at that, that embracing your femininity helped you become _more _of a badass."

Mana's jaw hung open as she processed everything Mari said. Try as she might, going over her memories, she couldn't find a single piece of evidence against Mari's words. Mana was forced to admit to herself that not only was Mari completely correct – that Mana had allowed herself to be a 'girly-girl' and hadn't lost anything, had in fact _gained _something – but also that she had actually _enjoyed _the spa trip, the comfortable skirt, being submissive during love and sex. She squeezed her eyes shut, trembling slightly as the cognitive dissonance affected her. A strangled whimper issued from her throat.

"Hey" Mari said softly, hugging her. "Don't worry, sweetie. It's nothing to fret about. You need to accept who you are – both your tomboy and girly-girl sides. They're both two equally wonderful parts of you, and together they're stronger than the sum of their parts. You should be comfortable with all facets of yourself. I'm not saying you should start dressing as a cute little girl right away… though you _would _be huggably adorable in a frilly skirt and with ribbons in your hair. But accept all the things that make you happy – the girlish and the boyish, the tough and the cutesy, masculine and feminine. Accept everything that brings you joy, comfort, and pleasure. Keep on being the tough tomboy we know and love, but let yourself be a girly-girl too. …Can you do that for us and for yourself, Mana-sweetie?"

Mana's hug tightened on Mari as she buried her face in the taller girl's shoulder. "Mm-hm" she whimpered, nodding her head a little.

"Good girl" Mari said softly as she gently rubbed the girl's back, getting her to sigh and relax in her arms.

"U-Um… Mari?" she asked, speaking softly. "Tonight… C-Can you… make me feel like a girl, if you know what I mean?"

Mari grinned. "Gladly" she purred, her hand around Mana's waist going down to squeeze her bottom. "You'll be my sweet little girly-girl tonight~. I wanna hear more of those adorable squeals you make…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Groundside Base – Meeting Room**

**October 23, 2015 – 0900 Hours**

"Good news, everyone" Col. Holland said. Around him were the girls of Gamma Team, Agents Washington, Texas, & Carolina, the four pilots & Mana, and holograms of everyone else in-the-know. "Thanks to Lieutenant Lanstar's actions, we have managed to gain vital information on SEELE's strongholds. Apparently, they have three main bases of equal importance, with four members stationed at each… Well, four at two and three at the third, now. They are moderately defended, but nothing we can't break through.

"Our prisoners provided fairly accurate intel on the locations on the planet of these bases, and high-altitude Clarion spy-drones confirmed and pinpointed the bases' locations. Now we can take the fight to them – get in, capture or kill the 11 surviving members of the SEELE Council, and save this Earth from the threat of Instrumentality once and for all.

"Now, we can't be 100% sure of what to expect, so when we move in we'll have to be prepared for _anything_. Nonetheless, I have faith in each & every one of you. We _will _stop SEELE for good. We _must_. Do any of you have any questions, comments, or suggestions?"

As discussions rolled on, Yui Ikari felt anticipation welling up inside her. After all this time fending off SEELE's advances, it was time to take the battle to them.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Sorry that this chapter's kinda short. Next Time: the final battle(s) of NGE-Earth.


	11. SEELE

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Unmapped secret facility in a forest in eastern Germany**

**October 23, 2015 – 1440 Hours (Japan Time; 0600 Hours Local Time)**

Gamma and Lancer Teams spearheaded the (local) early-morning assault on SEELE Base 1. Pelicans and Phantoms flew into the forested valley, heading for the expansive location; anti-air defenses had already been neutralized by Wild Weasel units. The first wave of dropships, Gamma and Lancer onboard, now approached the base; a few of the ships let fire some missiles to further soften up enemy defenses.

Aboard Echo-479, Lancer Team – Texas, Carolina, North, York, and Florida – readied their weapons; Tex secured her cargo of Spike Grenades on her person and in a subspace pocket, and cocked her MA5D, Carolina ensured her Type-52 plasma rifles were fully charged, York loaded his M90 shotgun, North adjusted his SRS99's scope, and Florida loaded a clip into his M398 rifle and fiddled with his MA5D's 40mm grenade launcher attachment. Inside Echo-419, Teana and Marie readied their Devices, along with Teana's Type-33 Needler and Marie's ARC-920 Railgun, Sarah loaded her 'Lancer' assault rifle and made sure her Gravity Hammer was secure, Kaede hefted her M398, Mai slapped a drum magazine into her M379, Shion set her arm device to Plasma Repeater mode, and Ahsoka had her lightsaber hilts gripped in her hands.

"_LZ's clear_" Foehammer said over the troop-bay speakers. "_Hostiles are still disoriented, but they're tryin' to rally. Get out there and put the fear of God into 'em, girls!_"

The Pelican hovered a few feet off the ground as its rear door opened, and the girls of Gamma piled out. Several of the other dropships were disgorging their armed cargo as well; Agent North Dakota scored the first kill of his group, his sniper shot killing a would-be enemy sniper atop the roof. Teana felt good having this guy watching their backs; though in most fields North was "Spartan-3 level" in skill, in sniping he was literally as good as Linda-058.

Teana got herself back on track, looking through the 2.5x scope of Mirage Rifle and firing a single shot through the skull of a SEELE agent up ahead. A 40mm grenade from Florida exploded amongst the enemy, killing two more of them. Rounds from Kaede's DMR began picking off more of them, as the attack force pressed forward. A squad of Sangheili threw a quartet of Plasma Grenades, and Gamma & Lancer took advantage of the resulting brief hole in the defenses, slipping through and into the facility.

Inside the deepest area of SEELE Base 1, Kihl Lorenz frowned. Not content with ruining SEELE's decades-long plans, the enemy had chosen to come after them and take them out at the source. They had launched simultaneous raids on this location, SEELE Base 2 in the Rocky Mountains, and SEELE Base 3 in the badlands of Australia. Shrugging to himself, he got up out of his chair, his various cybernetic augmentations shifting inside him as he hobbled over to a large locked metal cabinet…

The assault teams advanced further into the structure, carving through SEELE's defenses. A well-aimed Spike Grenade throw from Tex took out an autoturret, while a Railgun shot from Marie downed a nine-foot-tall combat mech. Florida rushed in, his assault rifle gunning down several soldiers, including one wielding an RPG launcher; "Pardon me, gentlemen, mind if I borrow this? Thank you!" The shot from the weapon took down another SEELE-built heavy battle droid, and Flowers then threw the now-empty launcher, nailing an enemy soldier in the face and knocking him over.

As the rest of the coalition soldiers spread throughout the base, Gamma and Lancer Teams spearheaded straight through to the center. They soon reached a heavily guarded door where Teana, Ahsoka, and Carolina did most of the de-guarding. The door was promptly blown down by a Super Missile shot from Marie, and the teams filed in. Then they immediately had to take cover from a hail of gunfire. Kihl Lorenz had apparently decided that if he was going down, he wouldn't make it easy for them; the head of SEELE was wearing full-body powered armor with a heavy machinegun strapped to the right arm and – as Ahsoka almost learned the hard way – a flamethrower on the left.

Unfortunately for him, compared to a high-level shinobi, Kihl was still just a weak, ineffectually-angry old man, as demonstrated by Teana when she flash-stepped right in front of him and smashed him with a _Rasengan_. The spiraling sphere of chaotic chakra grinded into the chestpiece of his armor, and then detonated with great concussive force, blowing his armor open and wrecking his internal components. Kihl went sailing back, smashing into a wall and sliding down.

Teana walked up to the still form and scanned it. The attack had destroyed the cybernetics that kept the old man alive. Kihl Lorenz was dead.

"Primary target is down" she reported.

"Well, that's one less asshole to worry about" York quipped.

They were about to report back to Command and leave, when suddenly the air seemed to darken and chill. All at once, a near-smothering demonic presence was felt everywhere & nowhere, accompanied by a deep, flanging voice.

"_**Foolish children. You have attracted the attention of I who am infinitely your greater. Previously, I have relied upon insignificant underlings to combat you, but this time… I AM ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL OF THE SITUATION.**_"

Kihl Lorenz's corpse began to twitch and seize, a pitch-black miasma appearing around it. Parts organic and synthetic shifted and morphed within it, the flesh turning a dark grey as spikes of bone and metal jutted out of its body. It got to its feet as the metamorphosis continued, increasing in size, the visor over its eyes falling away to reveal glowing red eyes.

"_**This fragment of my power should be sufficient.**_"

Everyone stared in shock as they looked upon their reanimated foe and felt his power. Florida summed it up best: "…Well, crap."

The dark entity's possessed avatar rushed forward with inhuman speed, lashing out with a punch that fractured Teana's hastily-conjured Rune Shield. Bullets from the Freelancers' guns pinged off of the Dark Avatar's full-body shield; a round from North's rifle had more of an impact, making the Dark Shield flare brightly, and in response the dark being loosed a burst of Darkness that knocked North for a loop, his vision swimming and the low-pitched beeping of his armor's shield alarm going off in his ears.

Teana swung at its head with Mirage Longsword, the blade of superheated magical energy quickly burning its way through the Dark Shield. In response, the dark being flash-stepped away before its defenses could be completely breached. A charged Light Beam shot from Marie crashed against and drained its shield, and then a thrown Spike Grenade from Tex adhered to it and then detonated. Pitch-black flesh was shredded, revealing a glowing dark-purple energy inside the being; the wounds began to spontaneously heal, completely repairing themselves within 10 seconds.

"_**You only damage a vessel; you cannot harm me.**_"

The dark entity rushed at Teana, forming a huge, serrate blade and pressing down against her Mirage Longswords, slowly overcoming her via sheer brute strength.

"Hey, asshole!"

The dark avatar turned in the direction of the shout… and was impaled by a 20-foot-long high-velocity arrow of raw chakra, pinning it to the far wall. Kyōko walked in, scowling with her _Mangekyō _active, her Stage-3 _Susanō _loading another chakra arrow into its crossbow.

"My name is Kyōko Uchiha-Sōryū, granddaughter of Izuna Uchiha. Teana's the daughter of my second cousin. I'm her last surviving adult relative. As of a few days ago, I'm her legal guardian. Now… stay the hell away from _my kid_!"

The dark entity raised its hand, charging another Dark Burst… only for a second _Susanō _Arrow to obliterate its head, punching through the thick metal wall behind it. The mutated body then rapidly decayed into dust and ashes, a dark mist fading away to nothing.

"_**And yet I remain out of your reach and unharmed, little humans**_" the voice came from nowhere. "_**That puppet bore only a fraction of my full strength. It would've been nice to eliminate one of you, but one can't always get what one wants. Besides, my plan continues regardless of the miniscule setbacks you've thrown in my path so far. Ready yourselves; the destruction of rebirth shall soon be at hand…**_"

The oppressive feeling in the air faded away, as the unholy presence vanished. York and Carolina quickly ran over to North, who waved them off as he shakily got to his feet. Kyōko dispelled her spectral guardian, her eyes returning to their normal blue; she walked up to Teana, checking on her… and the teen gave her a hug, which she happily returned.

"I'm fine" the purple-armored soldier said. "Just need to put some ice on it, maybe buff out the ding in my chestplate…"

"Theta?" York asked. "Is he really okay?"

"Nothing as bad as a lot of the things that have happened to him" the AI replied as he appeared on North's shoulder. "North'll be fine once he can lie down for a little while."

"The others have already captured or killed the other members of SEELE" Kyōko reported. "All that's left is the cleanup."

"I think I can help with that" Teana replied, as she shifted Cross Mirage to Rifle Mode and switched it to full-auto. "Point the way."

**(AN:** I feel compelled to point out here that, despite stealing Harbinger's catchphrase and _modus operandi_, our mysterious Big Bad is NOT a Reaper, nor is he connected to them in any way. Just throwing that out there before the wild theories start.**)**

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Tokyo-3 – Groundside Coalition Base**

**October 25, 2015 – 1130 Hours**

Things went smoothly after that. Later in the day of the raids, NERV contacted the United Nations and revealed the full truth behind Second Impact and behind SEELE's plans. Horrified and outraged, they quickly took custody of the surviving SEELE Councilmen, with plans to reveal everything to the world and place the men on trial for crimes against humanity.

Right now, a conversation between the pilots was interrupted as Mana walked out of a nearby side room. "H-How do I look?" she asked, nervous and blushing.

They checked her out. Her now-shoulder-length hair was in a short low ponytail held by a little red bow. She was wearing a loose-fitting pale pink shirt that slightly accented her bust, and a mid-thigh-length pale-blue skirt. She fidgeted as she 'felt' their eyes on her. Shinji stood up, stepped close, and kissed her.

"_That's _how I think you look" he said softly. "Boyish or girly, whatever you wear looks good on you." He turned to Rei, Mari, and Asuka. "Same for you girls, of course."

Mari giggled. "I think Mana-chan looks really cute and sexy in a skirt." She walked up beside Mana, who then gasped as she felt Mari's soft hand running along her uncovered thigh. Mari then pulled the prettified tomboy down with her onto the couch, hugging her. Rei, Asuka, and Shinji joined in, all of them giving Mana some love (with Mari also taking the opportunity to squeeze Rei's butt, earning a squeak from the blue-haired girl).

Sarah walked by, holding a plate with her lunch on it, and smiled at the cuddlefest taking up the couch. She continued on, having a seat at a far table, where Misato (also eyeing the cuteness on the couch) was sitting.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Cheeseburger sandwich" Sarah replied, holding a slice up. "Hamburger patty, with cheese and a little mayo, but with sandwich bread instead of burger buns."

"…That actually sounds pretty good."

In another room, Teana was with Kyōko and with the Swanson Sister's mother, Veronica having come through the _Starshot_'s gateport simply to spend some time with her girls. Kyōko had Teana lying on her side with her head in her lap, and was gently stroking her for-all-intents-and-purposes new daughter's hair, as the Swanson matriarch softly rubbed her back. Teana had a blissful smile on her face, eyes closed as the two mother figures of her life relaxed her almost to the point of sleep, a feeling of content safety/security filling her.

"Mamas…" she murmured happily.

Erika walked in at this point, and she smiled at the scene. Her mother bid her over, and Erika crawled up onto the bed and lay her head in her mother's lap, Veronica using her right hand to begin softly petting her little girl's head while her left continued giving Teana a soothing backrub.

-_Mini-Break_-

Half an hour later, Aqua came into the main room; Teana was seated on the couch with a happy and comfortable Erika in her lap and Timmy sitting squeezed in between her & the armrest, he & Erika holding hands, while Sarah had Marie's head in her lap and was doing to her what her mom had done to Erika earlier. The four pilots and Mana were still snuggling on the other couch, while Laicixa, Mariko, Caro, and Erio were cuddled up on the easy chair, Lai & Erio squeezed together side-by-side with Mariko and Caro, respectively, in their laps. Aqua smiled at the scene, but then cleared her throat.

"I've finished going over the reports," she said, "and talking with Colonel Holland and Shipmaster Arum. We've decided where we should go next."

"Where to?" Marie asked in a dreamy, relaxed tone, half-lidded eyes looking at the young Keyblade Master.

"We've fought Heartless and Unversed recently. That 'Ruin' character has been giving us problems and seems to be a servant of a very dangerous higher power. And we now have five different Keyblade-Wielders among us. Taking all those into account, I think we should visit an expert on these things, someone I know will have useful intel for us. …We're going to my realm, to see Master Yen-Sid."

"Wait…" Marie raised her head a little. "You mean… We're going to the _Kingdom Hearts _universe next? …_Awesome_."

-_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Coalition Groundside Base**

**October 27, 2015 – 1450 Hours**

Rei stepped through the newly-created portal, and then after several seconds emerged from it again.

"It works" she said. "A portal link has been established between this facility and the _Starshot_'s translocation terminal room."

"So now we can come here, or you guys can come to us, whenever we or you want" Marie explained to the Local Group. "God, I love Forerunner tech…"

"I'll probably be using that function more than a bit" Kyōko said as she and Asuka hugged Teana. "You're my responsibility now, so I need to make sure you take care of yourself, dear."

"And I'll help mama do that!" Asuka added.

"Thanks, you two…" Teana smiled as she relaxed in the Family Hug.

"And I'll definitely step through fairly often" Shinji said. "So I can spend time with Mana."

The tomboy blushed lightly and smiled, walking up to him and kissing him on the cheek. Then Mari grabbed hold of the girl and frenched her, with Shinji hugging her from behind during that.

"Things'll be different around here, that's for sure" Yui said. "No more Angels, no more SEELE…"

"Our enemies will probably come after you guys, though" Shion replied. "So stay on guard, keep training, and be ready."

"Of course."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**High Orbit**

**Forerunner **_**M**_**-class Destroyer **_**Starshot**_

**Same Day – Two Hours Later**

"Dimensional coordinates set" the navigations Ensign said. "Course locked in. Spinning up slipstream drives…"

Two starships ascended from this realm's Earth, slipspace ruptures forming off the bow of both. The _Shining Ember _departed first, returning to Sanghelios. Seconds later, the _Starshot _vanished into the realm between realms, heading for the home of an old and powerful mage who just may have information on their ultimate foe.

**-**_**BOOK 13 END**_**-**

Check out the Lyrical Nanoha / Kingdom Hearts crossover section soon for _Book 14: Heart of Worlds_. Until then!


End file.
